Monday 2 November 2009

k.d. lang and Ellen Degeneres

It's k.d. lang's birthday today, so let's have a look at her chart.

What seems interesting at first is that, regarding her homosexuality, she has both Venus and Mars in the signs that they rule. If we are to believe Bernadette Brady, when she was trying to explain in modern terms what rulership, exaltation, detriment and fall mean and said that planets in rulership or exaltation act in a "normal" way, that is in a socially acceptable manner, and planets in detriment or fall in a more "uranian" and outcast way, then k.d. lang's chart apparently contradicts her. We are not living in the Middle Ages anymore and it may be OK to be gay, but, still, we can't honestly say that we've done away with prejudice completely. So, how can we explain this chart?
One possible explanation is that we shouldn't pay any attention to rulerships, detriments and the suchlike and be completely modern about this and say that planets are not weakened or strengthened depending on the sign they reside, but, simply, work differently, according to the nature of that sign.
Traditionally, what can we say? Both Mars and Venus are strong essentially but not accidentally. Mars fares a little better, even though it's in a cadent house, because it aspects the Ascendant and therefore more able to express itself, while Venus doesn't. However, she (Mercury) identifies more with Venus (Mercury conjunct Venus, separating though) than Mars. But both Mercury and Venus, especially Mercury, are square a very strong Saturn in Capricorn, situated in a better house than Venus and Mars. Mercury leaves Venus and will square Saturn next. Venus and Mercury may like Saturn by being in Libra, but Saturn doesn't return their feelings, feeling much closer to Mars. Confusing isn't it?
Let's just say that both the female and the male principles are strong in her chart. We may leave it at that, saying that's why she has this androgynous look, but let's look further. Her 5th house (sex) is ruled by Saturn and Saturn is there. Very strong. But her significator for relationships (Jupiter) is in the house of sex, but in the sign of it's fall. Hmm...
Back to modern. Her Moon (traditionally the light in sect, since her chart is nocturnal) is conjunct Uranus, opposite Chiron and loosely conjunct the Ascendant. Uranus has been accused of bringing homosexual tendencies, but this has not always proven to be the case. However, we cannot deny that Uranus and Chiron bring an element of eccentricity, of a sort of behaviour that stands at the margins of society and a wound inflicted by this marginalization.
My conclusion, combining the two astrological schools, is: Yes, there is an innate need to deviate from the "norm" in some way and this need is evident and must be expressed (Moon/Uranus conjunct the Ascendant). But, since she has Mars, Venus and Saturn very strong essentially, she will deal with this eccentricity in a very "sane" way. She will come to accept it easily, tell the whole world about it and not tear herself to pieces just because she is different.
In contrast, in Ellen Degeneres chart, Saturn is in the 1st house (we don't have an accurate birth time, but she said she has an Sagittarius Ascendant). Which means, that she is probably more shy than k.d. and that she cares more about what other people think. Yes, she did eventually come out and she's dealt that Saturn a heavy blow, but I suspect she had spent years wondering "Why can't I be normal?" and that it's still difficult for her to smile off any nasty comments on her sexuality. She may have done a very brave thing and accepted it, but I fear deep inside, it still hurts sometimes. If you've seen the coming out episode of Ellen, you can see how painful it is for her: "Why can't I say it, why can't I even say the word?"
On a final note: k.d lang's most popular song is "Constant Craving" What else would you expect from a Sun/Neptune person? It's things like that that keep you going in astrology, when all techniques seem to fail and you want to abandon it completely.




1 comment:

  1. well, i don't know.

    i have been curious about ms. lang's chart since discovering many years ago that we share the same birthday. just goes to show, i guess, that time and location of birth make difference enough to pay attention to.

    for one, i'd say that i relate to both mars in scorpio and the venus/mercury conjunction in libra; i couldn't say one is stronger than the other. (however - or "also" - i identify very much with your most recent post on this blog, related to venus in libra, regarding balance and more specifically the necessity of compromise in any relationship that is to both last and grow.)

    for what it's worth, i'm not gay, but feel i am very "in touch" with the feminine aspects of myself. i can sing pretty darn well, if not nearrly to ms. lang's exquisite level, but pour my neptunian self into writing, specifically and most ambitiously toward cinema.

    i've just come across your blog this evening, as a result of a search of "astrology k.d. lang" and find this post quite interesting and insightful.

    thank you. i'll take a look around your site.

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