Andrew Koenig dies

Andrew Koenig, the "Growing Pains" star and son of Walter Koenig of Star Trek fame, died after - according to his father - having committed suicide, following severe depression. We do not have a birth time, so I'm going to focus on specific parts of his chart, mainly the Sun/Neptune tight square and all those Virgo planets. This is going to be a more general analysis, not only because we don't have an accurate birth time, but also because a natal chart is only a natal chart, no matter how important. What we are today is a result of all the connections our natal chart has made with the other natal charts over the years. It is still impossible to know the whole truth about a person.
I've always associated the sign of Virgo with depression, much more so than other signs. Virgo is not a fire sign, which means that it doesn't find life exciting. It's not a water sign, so it doesn't seek solace in emotional connections with other people and it's not an air sign, ready and eager to worship at the altar of knowledge. It is an earth sign, but unlike Taurus, it doesn't find meaning in bodily senses and unlike Capricorn, it doesn't aim at conquering the body and its weaknesses.
It's the sign opposite Pisces, which means that it's the sign as far away from God as possible. Virgos are not here to realize how we are all interconnected, but how different we are from each other. And they do exactly that. They tend to be critical and find fault with everything. But when you find fault with everything, you end up being alone. You are not likely to be appreciated, which can be pretty depressing.
So, what a Virgo needs is stamina and endurance and they need to learn how to handle separateness and make something useful out of it. In short, they need a healthy Saturn. Koenig has a very bad Saturn, in Aries and retrograde. Not much help, there. To top it all, Koenig has a very tight Sun/Neptune square, which contradicts the Virgo energy. Here is a man or a part of him, that hates separateness. This aspect can be equally depressing, because it can't survive without some sort of God. Only the belief that there is a God, who moves in mysterious ways, can make life bearable, because otherwise life is a disaster, a huge cosmic joke. But how can Koenig find a God with all that Virgo energy?
At the moment of his death, he was going through some very difficult outer planet transits. The Uranus opposition, which signals the middle-life crisis and the very difficult Neptune transit, forming a T-square with his natal Sun/Neptune. So, not only was he saying goodbye to his youth, but his natural tendency to view life on the earthly plane as utterly meaningless was exacerbated. Of course, this doesn't mean that suicide was his only option, a lot of people are going through similar transits with no such dramatic consequences, but, still, this is not the happiest of times.

Oscar 2010 - Jeff Bridges

This is Jeff Bridges' chart from Astrodata Bank at the astro.com website. Jeff Bridges is this year's favourite for the Best Actor in a Leading role Academy Award. It is a very interesting chart, because he has a lot of angular planets, which means planets that are able to act, and express themselves strongly. He has the Sun in Sagittarius and his chart ruler, Mercury, also in Sagittarius, conjunct the I.C. Mercury is also the ruler of his Mid-heaven. What can we make of this Mercury placement, obviously his most important planet?
Mercury is situated at the bottom of the chart, in the 4th house of family and tradition. Since Mercury also rules his M.C., he has to find a profession that will, in some manner or form, follow in the footsteps of his parents, particularly those of his father (4th house). He did exactly that, as he comes from a family of actors. What's more, he made a success of it. He was born on a Full Moon at night, which makes the Moon the light in sect and incredibly strong, since it is at the height of its power. The Moon also trines Jupiter and Neptune, quite fortunate aspects. His success is largely due to this Moon, which is conjunct the MC.
However, Mercury is in detriment and along with the Sun and the Moon, they are all square Saturn, very strong on the Ascendant. Which leads us to believe that something is not quite as it's supposed to be.
Mercury in detriment indicates, as Bernadette Brady puts it, that he may follow the family tradition, but in a somewhat alternative way. The strong Saturn aspects promise duration, but at the same time show some hesitation in accepting his life path. This was indeed the case. He is blessed with good looks, considerable acting skills and actor parents. What would be more natural than becoming an actor himself without giving it a second thought? However, based on his biography, it took him a long time to decide whether he wanted to pursue an acting career or not, but once he did, longevity was guaranteed. He is being considered for the Academy Award, almost forty years after his first nomination for the Last Picture Show. That is a considerable achievement. However, he has never won so far, even though he is well respected and admired by his peers. He did not become a star, possibly out of choice, although he had everything going for him. He is not what you would call a bankable actor. He has made a few well received films, but the majority of the films he starred in were unsuccessful, either financially or artistically. He doesn't like the limelight and prefers to spend his time, when not working, with his family at his ranch. Saturn on the Ascendant wouldn't have it otherwise.
What is impressive in his progressed chart is that he has recently had his progressed Full Moon, an important phase in the life of an individual, a time for reaping rewards for your efforts. We should keep in mind that he was born under a Full Moon, so this phase suits him the most. Moreover, this progressed Full Moon was exactly conjunct progressed Jupiter, ruler of his Sun and Mercury, his chart and MC ruler. An interesting time indeed.

Oscar 2010 and Pluto in Capricorn

What I have noticed in the last couple of years regarding the film industry is that a new film genre is gaining popularity, at least in award ceremonies, if not in ticket sales. That of the film/documentary feature. While this kind of film cannot be called a documentary, it is still quite a long way from the type of film we are used to. The emphasis is on real-life events or events that resemble real-life as much as possible, which means that there is a trend in Hollywood to de-glamourize story-telling and present the story in a more factual sort of way. Last year, we had Frost/Nixon and Milk, two films nominated for the Academy Award, and this year we have The Hurt Locker, District 9 (partly) or even Precious, whose overly dramatic story is presented in a more matter-of-fact way, in an effort to shy away from intense melodrama. Is there an astrological explanation for this?
I believe Pluto in Capricorn has a lot to do with this. All the above films are trying to show the dark side of society and what life is really like if you strip away the melodrama and the happy endings. Even Precious doesn't really have a happy ending, but instead the girl has simply succeeded in coming to terms with her dark reality and moving on. All these films are trying to do is show how sick society really is and what it does to the people who live in it. In Frost/Nixon we witnessed the dark side of politics, in Milk and in District 9 we saw how minorities are treated, in The Hurt Locker we saw what war is like on an everyday basis and in Precious we saw how cruel and abusive families can be.
All this is very well, but I fear that this is not a direction the film industry should go to. What most of these films lack (with the exception of Precious), is a plot, a story with characters that could get you emotionally involved in what you are watching, because films and documentaries are two completely different genres and it is very difficult to blend them successfully. The fact that Saturn is strong in Libra and Neptune is still in Aquarius, another Saturn-ruled sign, doesn't help much either. There's too much Saturn in the heavens. I believe that things will gradually begin to change when Neptune moves into Pisces. At least, I hope so.