The Kennedy Curse – “a case of triumph and tragedy, great success and terrible suffering … In many ways it’s the American story.” A new Kennedy family biography, co-authored by crime-writer James Patterson, looks at the catastrophes and triumphs that have dogged their footsteps right up to the present day. “The lofty and tawdry live side by side, and the fascination never ends for a family that could aim so high and crash so hard, over and over.”
One quarter of the cousins have been treated for drug or alcohol abuse, well above the national average, and the accidental deaths and near misses are almost too numerous to list.
It seemed worthwhile to see if there were any family markers astrologically which linked the generations. The founding patriarch Patrick Joseph Kennedy, 14 January 1858, was the son of Irish immigrants who fled the famine. He had a last decan Capricorn Sun and Mercury opposition Saturn in Cancer. That late Capricorn/Cancer placing, along with Mars in Scorpio, can be traced down the family line. His son Joseph Kennedy, 6 September 1888, had his North Node in final degree Cancer and Mars in Scorpio. His wife Rose, 22 July 1890 had her Cancer Sun Mercury conjunct his North Node.
Down a generation JFK, 29 May 1917 3pm, had Saturn in late Cancer conjunct his Midheaven with a determined Mars in Taurus in his 8th giving it a Scorpio tinge.
Robert Kennedy, 20 November 1925 15.11 pm, had a late Capricorn Moon conjunct Jupiter opposition a Cancer North Node; with Mars in Scorpio.
Edward Kennedy, 22 February 1932 3.58 am, had Saturn in last degree Capricorn widely opposition Pluto in Cancer.
The eldest son of that generation, Joseph, born 1915, killed in WW11, had a Capricorn Moon and Saturn Pluto Mercury Venus in Cancer. A sister Katherine who died in a 1948 plane crash had Mars in Scorpio. Rosemary, another sister who had a botched lobotomy also had Mars in Scorpio. Of the other siblings Jean has Venus Mars in last decan Capricorn; and Patricia had three planets in Cancer. Eunice has her Sun and three other planets in Cancer. John F Kennedy Jnr, also killed in a plane crash had three planets in Capricorn and one in Cancer. Joseph 111, who is running for Senate this year, has Mars in Scorpio.
Capricorn/Cancer and Mars in Scorpio it is. JFK was elected on a Jupiter Saturn in Capricorn and this latest death by drowning of Maeve Kennedy, Robert’s granddaughter, happened during the Saturn Pluto in Capricorn.
In mythology Capricorn is associated with Janus, the two-faced god, one looking back and one forward – also associated with Christ and the goat-god Lucifer. A sign of extreme opposites – the light and the shade, war and peace.
Thank you Marjorie – this is so intriguing and enlightening. The Kennedys do seem to resonate with mythic tales, or even with the Biblical idea of the “sins of the fathers”. The more that’s discovered about our DNA also points to familial patterns, which – some suggest – can influence our talents, behaviour, and even our mental health. It is fascinating how patterns are revealed in family astrology, going back to ancestors in the 19th century. Even just looking at Sun signs through a few generations is thought provoking. In my wider family group there seems to be only one Aries, for generations. A significant group of Capricorns though, despite this not being a very popular time to be born in the northern hemisphere.
I like this quote from Jung: “When I worked in my family tree, I understood the strange communion of the destiny that unites me to my ancestors.”
Many thanks for this, Marjorie. I’m fascinated by family histories and the Kennedys make such a good study. You only have to look at Greek myth to see that familial patterns have been well known and recognised since ancient times.
I remember a few years ago I listened to a drama on radio about the horrible fate of Rosemary Kennedy. Such was the cruelty inflicted on that poor girl it still haunts to this day.