Mark Zuckerberg marries just after Facebook flotation

I've just been watching BBC News report about Mark Zuckerberg's unexpected marriage just a day after his company, Facebook, was floated on the New York Stock Exchange. Interesting that the two events have come so close together. He married his long-term girlfriend Priscilla Chan, who is 27. They've been together since University. (See the BBC report  for more...)

Mark Zuckerberg's chart - caution - NO TIME - ignore house cusps - this is a noon chart.

The first thing I noticed (as a fellow Taurus Sun) was that transiting Jupiter has been busy in his chart. Jupiter conjuncted the Sun in the sky at 23° Taurus last weekend. This was slap-bang on Mark's natal Sun, a great birthday present :) Jupiter-Sun suggests an enhancement and expansion (Jupiter) of personal recognition (Sun). Also interesting is the financial aspect, with those planets in Taurus (the sign that rules money and resources) - so expansion here too! 
We don't know the exact degree of his Moon but it's definitely in Scorpio- give or take 7 degrees either side of that 17° Scorpio figure. He was born at a Full Moon - making him more sensitive to his environment. There is a lot of emphasis in the fixed signs for that Jupiter transit to trigger - Venus is also in Taurus - strong in its own sign, and Saturn and Mars in Scorpio. It's also interesting that the strong Venus is also trine to Jupiter in Capricorn - the trine in earth suggesting an innate talent with material things, practically and with money and resources. And of course, Jupiter can indicate good fortune and it expands whatever it touches! Scorpio is also a very canny, and business-minded sign, especially with harmonious and creative aspects to that Jupiter. 
In Mark's chart this fixity itself and the fact that Venus is opposite Saturn suggests commitment and taking relationships seriously. (He'd been with his girlfriend since university - for nine years I think the report says).

He's not quite hit his Saturn return yet but around this time, though we don't know the exact Moon position when he was born, it is likely to be his Secondary Progressed Lunar Return. This itself, with his natal Moon opposite Venus, highlights the relationship and the female energy in his chart. At the time of the marriage the Moon was also in Taurus, further emphasising that fixed axis.

Transits for when he got married, the day after the Stock Exchange floatation.

Interesting that this all happened within 'Eclipse Season', so emotions, positive or negative, are amped up quite a bit as it is at the moment, and that tonight's annular Solar Eclipse at 0° Gemini will be conjunct (thought slightly wide) Chiron in his chart (2° Gemini). Wish we had a time of birth! :)

Full Moon (SuperMoon) in Scorpio tonight

Today's Full Moon in Scorpio, exact at 4.36am (BST) tonight, is a 'supermoon' - the moon is full at the point when it's at (or very near) it's closest point to the earth in its orbit. It will appear bigger in the sky. This particular supermoon is the one closest to the earth in 2012.
We've had very few clear skies here in the UK recently so not sure if we'll be able to see it.
The term 'supermoon' was coined by Richard Nolle in 1979. 

1.    Richard Nolle's explanation of supermoons on his website

2.    Richard's article on supermoon, on the Mountain Astrologer website.

The Full Moon in Scorpio correlates with a tension between the identification with the peace, tranquillity, material comfort and stability of nature-loving Taurus, (where the Sun is at the moment) and the turbulent passions of the emotional watery Moon opposite, in Scorpio. The Moon is in 'fall' in Scorpio. It's not very happy there, it feels unsafe often. The Moon is much happier in the opposite sign of Taurus! There are issues of trust. It seems often on its guard in Scorpio. Emotions are intense and deeply, passionately felt here. Obviously this does not lend itself to Taurean harmony and tranquillity, but Taurus can provide a container for those passions with the practicality of Earth. Both signs are loyal, but stubborn. They are called Fixed signs for a reason. It's status quo and security (Taurus) versus transformation and intensity (Scorpio). The full moon brings the tension of opposites, the polarities of the signs to attention, into greater awareness.  


It might be a good time (if it feels safe to do so) to find a way to allow whatever is lurking in the depths of the psyche into awareness now. Hidden motives, primal urges, those unconscious patterns and drives that actually have great power over us because we push them away as 'unacceptable' or 'inappropriate', and then they churn away under the surface. Scorpio and Pluto rule the taboo. 
Meditating tonight on making space for these parts of ourselves could be beneficial. I use a technique called Focusing which allows for holding the very different 'parts' of ourselves in acceptance and locating them as a 'felt sense' in the body. Simply acknowledging their presence can create a shift in itself. (Check out the link for more details) This can be very helpful at the heightened tension and awareness of the full moon in whatever signs. 


Do you have any planets at or near 16 of fixed signs? If so, this full moon could be significant for you. Also look at the houses it falls in in your natal chart. 

R.I.P. Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys.

Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys died today. 

I guess it's a morbid practice of astrologers, to look at the charts of famous people when they die.  For me, there's something about 'I wish I'd paid more attention when he was alive' I guess. I got Adam Yauch's data from Wikipedia, so I'm not sure how reliable that is. There's no time available, so ignore Ascendant and house placements. (He's not on Astrodatabank.) 

Adam Yauch - note, no time.

It does feel a little to me as though a piece of my 'rebellious' youth has suddenly gone. Not that I was hugely rebellious :) It certainly feels wrong that cancer should claim one of these guys though, and at such a young age (47).  According to the news he'd been fighting the disease for the last three years, and it was announced publicly in July 2009. 

Astrologically, the performer stands out in his Leo Sun (square to Neptune - through music) and the Mars/Venus conjunction. His natal Mercury is sandwiched between the generational Pluto-Uranus conjunction of his time. He thought (Mercury) unconventionally, rebelliously, brilliantly, unpredictably, and 'outside the box' (Uranus) and communicated in the same manner. Not to mention the offbeat comedy genius :) This was empowered and intensified by Pluto being in the mix too. Saturn, opposing this conjunction, correlates to the conventional that was being fought against, the status quo, society, authority. This seems appropriate not only as expressed through his punk and rap music, but also as the voice of protest in his work in support of Tibet. He was also a practising Buddhist, which perhaps reflects the Sun-Neptune square too.

Transit-wise, it was his Jupiter return when he died, and those natal planets in Cancer - Venus, Mars and the Moon caught my eye - they've been under pressure from Pluto for a few years now - since the year before he announced his illness publicly. and then from Uranus, as the current Pluto-Uranus square becomes more exact. It's hard to know exactly where his Moon would be, it could be up to 7 degrees either side of that 13 degree Cancer position. Neptune and Chiron have also been crossing his natal Saturn.
I'm also noting that he was born under the Uranus-Pluto conjunction of the 1960s and died under the first major aspect of these two heavy-weight outer planets since then. A 'recurrence transit'. 

So, respect to Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys. They made me smile and jump around. Lots. Thanks for the music... and the comedy. Here's 'Sabotage'....

More photos from BBC News here. 
BBC Obituary with part of "Fight For Your Right To Party" video :)