Diego Maradona, acknowledged as the greatest footballer of all time has died aged 60. He was described as ‘dazzling, infamous, extraordinary, genius, outrageous and a flawed football icon.’ ‘He boasted a rare combination of flair, flamboyance, vision and speed which mesmerised fans.’
Born 30 October 1960 7.05 am in the slums of Buenos Aires in Argentina he showed his prodigious talent early on, brought glory to Argentina, moved to Barcelona and then Naples but as glorious as his career was it was also marked by drama, indiscipline and a long-running cocaine habit. He was exploited commercially by Argentina’s military regimes and when in Italy had connections to the Camorra – the Naples mafia. After his retirement from football in 1997 he became bloated and grossly overweight and in 2004 was hospitalised with a suspected heart attack following excessive cocaine use.
He had an extraordinarily tied together chart with a Water Grand Trine of a 12th house Sun Neptune in Scorpio trine a Pisces Moon trine Mars in Cancer, formed into a Kite by Moon opposition Pluto North Node and Mars opposition Saturn in Capricorn. From the Water Grand Trine he’d be healing for others but not for himself and the Sun Neptune especially in the 12th plus a Pisces Moon would make him addictive prone. With anger issues from Saturn Mars.
His pleasure-seeking 9th harmonic was strong; as was his self-defeating, rise-and-fall 10H; and his superstar 22H.
It’s not often that death shows up clearly but he did have his Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Neptune exactly and square his Midheaven; his Solar Arc Mars opposition his Moon; his Solar Arc Saturn exactly opposition his Node. Which is quite a collection.
So much talent and so much adulation heaped on his shoulders would not be easy for a shanty town kid to handle.
Late to read this article. Just had a look at the chart for former Spanish player Andoni Goikoetxea Olaskoaga (Goiko for short), notoriously known as the ‘butcher from Bilbao’ (born 23 May 1956) who inflicted a really brutal ankle breaking injury on Maradona in 1983 – back in the lawless, wild west days. Maradona has a natal t-square involving Mercury in Scorpio, Uranus in Leo and Chiron in Aquarius – I think Aquarius rules the ankles. The synastry between the 2 charts is really potent. In particular, Goiko has Saturn in Scorpio (which is conjunct Maradona’s Scorpio Ascendant/ Mercury), Mars in Aquarius and Jupiter in Leo t-square sitting right on top of Maradona’s natal t-square – it’s a really gritty interface with further challenging aspects.
Maradona had a very watery chart and boundaries/ dependency needs will always be significant. Just wondering about the role of his mother with the Mars in Cancer (conjunct BML) opposition Saturn – issues of control and possibly never really being allowed to grow up could be a major issue especially when combined with the Moon in Pisces. Has anyone thought Mercury in the 12th house conjunct the Scorpio Ascendant could represent ‘the hand of God’, or was just me? Really interesting chart.
Maradona was the greatest one footed footballer of all time. All his genius was expressed through his left foot. His right foot was essentially just something he stood on. This sets him apart from other football greats such as a Pele and Cruyff who seem to have been two footed. I wonder if that Sun, Neptune in the 12th with Mercury near the ascendant reflects this left sided bias. Although tagged with a wild image as an erratic character who squandered his talent I think the reality was a little more complex. He certainly had his demons but he also had the capability to make average teams such as the Argentine national side in 1986 or Napoli perform way above their expectations. He was an inspirational captain who led both sides to win major trophies. Some of his coaches have also mentioned that his talent was bolstered by a dedication to honing his ball skills on the training ground which went above that of most players. Saturn and Jupiter in Capricorn suggests someone who could work very hard to achieve their goals when the mood took them. In many ways Maradona harks back to a different era when players were less well paid but had magical almost semi divine attributes of the sort one finds in Greek myths. In fact Maradona is almost the archetype of the flawed hero destined to both achieve greatness but also to be brought down by fate.
A very gifted footballer who was second to none at the very peak of his powers.
The gulf between the poor child from the slums and the superstar was never
really reconciled. It is hardly surprising he veered from one extreme to another.
There is a very unsettling similarity between him and that other gifted, but
equally self-destructive talent George Best. By an eerie coincidence, Diego died
fifteen years to the day that George crossed over.
Though I am not a soccer fan, it’s always terribly sad to see someone die at a relative young age, esp when he seemed to have everything, unlike the very poor he grew up among, who were never able to taste the ‘good life’.
In addition to his Water Trine, my sense is that the other major factor is his Saturn-Mars, esp Mars for an athlete, and overall vitality. His wild lifestyle showed that he did not have a strong Saturn for maturity and wisdom. It was also very likely associated with the early deprivations (possibly parental as well, as Saturn) in his mind. (The self-indulgence tied to early poverty brings to mind a close family member with also a weak Saturn and a tough childhood, who grew up wanting to overcome it by acquiring material wealth, which he did, tho never quite enough, a la Trump, but also with the belief that life ‘owed’ him every indulgence. We weren’t any richer but didn’t experienced it in the same way, accepting it more as part of life to navigate)
His Mars fought and overcame the deprivations, but as a result he was never able to establish a balance between the two, exhausting his energies. At the time of his death Mars squared both natal planets.
That’s very interesting about the Mars/Saturn opposition. England’s now retired Paul Gascoigne has this opposition and in Cardinal signs too (Saturn in Aries, Mars in Libra) and is equally known for his addiction to alcohol and who never quite reached his potential as a footballer. Also with a deprived childhood, where at one time his family lived in one room, his father, a hod-carrier suffered seizures and he witnessed the death of a brother of a friend in a traffic accident.
Sad, very sad.
Just reading an article about him and it states “It is impossible to find any other player who represented so many things to so many people, who lived the dream he wanted, the one they wanted too.” Perfect description of someone so neptunian.
It also says that by the time 1989 rolled around he was heavily declining with the drugs and everybody wanting a piece of him. To use the words of the article “He was already decaying”. And he’d had transiting Pluto roll across his Sun-Neptune after reaching his peak and winning the World Cup almost singlehandedly. Decay is very plutonian.
Always to be associated with the “Hand of God” goal, it’s an example of the neptunian fascination with religion. That he could never admit directly to the handball, even many years later when few cared, is a pointer to his addiction problems. You have to be responsible to yourself and the consequences of your action, or the addictions will control you.
It seems to me that as great as the Grand Trine in Water was for him, he also suffered that problem water people can have with setting boundaries. Noting that transiting Uranus is sat opposite his Sun-Neptune combo – I think it wanted him to distance himself from others and he couldn’t do it. It probably uncovered a few objective truths that his water had only subjectively been seeing before. Sixty years of self-deception can weight heavily.
But sad, just very, very sad.
On Radio 4 BBC this morning some football greats paid homage to Maradona ….one said he played totally from instinct and like a magician just made it up and did impossible things which weren’t planned, he flew and turned and stopped,so spontaneously, that nobody could second-guess him – he had no set routine – how watery can you get? They loved him though, he was their idol, there’s always the balancing up within, and it seems he was stuck in a groove. Not that it matters, he made his mark, he had passion, flair and the ability to achieve the almost impossible on the field.
Thanks Marjorie. An amazing footballer, and perhaps the Grand Trine in water also hints at his phenomenal instincts and intuition when making rapid decisions during a game. George Best, whom I’ve only seen in documentary footage, was similarly mesmerising to watch. He was a Gemini, 22 May 1946, with a Grand Trine in air. His addiction was alcohol, which destroyed his life in the end. I sometimes wonder about Grand Trines, as I have come across them a few times in chart of addicts of various kinds. This aspect, rather like some Jupiter transits, isn’t always a “fortunate” one is it?
Yes, same here. Grand water trines are not always easy. Both my father and brother had Neptune in the 12th, in my brother’s case conjunct Moon opposition Sun and both struggled with addictions. My father had a water grand trine also, with 7 of his 10 planets in water and possibly this may have been made worse by the prevailing attitudes to masculinity during the era he was raised. I think we still have a long way to go when it comes to understanding, treating and helping addicts.
Virgoflake, I assume you’re earthy with that name? yes, I think water (not challenged by squares and oppositions) ‘flows’ too easily downstream…..men/emotions/acknowledged and expressed, still have a way to go. A grand trine would give great cover (ease in deceiving) also great charm, as nobody has the charisma of the water signs, they’re lethal……! they need absolute grounding in helping professions or it is turned inwards….. very difficult for your average Man…..
Yes Maggy, I have a good dose of Earth but water too – muddy. Yes, he had great charm plus a sort of child-like nature which could endear people. And spot on about the cover and deception – he was a secret drinker. We would find bottles and glasses hidden everywhere, under bookcases, in cupboards, etc. So sad because he was a unique person with an unusual intelligence but impossible to reach, emotionally.
Grand Trines bring an easy flow of energy – and usually talent – but easy isn’t necessarily a good thing on its own since it makes people lazy. Squares especially T Squares push individuals to problem solve and overcome obstacles.
Grand Trines can get very locked into a rut and Water into their own bubble. It should have been less problematic for both since they had an opposition off the Trine. In Best’s case Moon opposition Mars or Pluto or both, but that clearly proved destructive. Maradona also had his Grand Trine Moon opposition Pluto and his Mars opposition Saturn – so not easy.
I once knew someone whose chart was all trines and sextiles. I’ve seen that described as ‘evil’ – which was maybe stretching a point, but something was decidedly unpleasant about them.
Thanks Marjorie, that’s thought provoking. I’ve noticed how often oppositions by transit, or squares, can work out positively too. Yes, even Saturn!
I also just had a quick look at the chart for Pele, another all-time great footballer. He, too, had a most impoverished start in life, in Brazil. His birthday is 21st October, 1940 (astrodienst) – with a Jupiter/Saturn conjunction in Taurus (timely!) inconjunct Mars and nodes in Libra. That strikes me as a somewhat telling collection of planets for a sportsman. Apologies for the lack of acute accent on Pele’s name. Computer refuses to do it for some reason….
Being a football fan, I’ve looked at Maradona’s chart before, and think he is embodiment of Sun/Neptune in 12th house. Pure, unexplainable, inspired talent for something, in his case, football, which isn’t rare for Scorpios. Unfortunately, I graduated from “casual watcher” to real football fan during 1990 World Cup, and have only seen his best matches later on, because he was already spiraling by then. He always was insufferable outside the field, and as a player, he never truly recovered of his first cocaine bust in March 1991. I can’t point out significant traditional transits hitting Natal Chart, but I’m almost certain there was something going on with his Solar Arch or Midpoints at that moment? This was gigantic news in Italy.
Unfortunately, it has also been the story of more “greatests” in football than not. I personally rate “The Original” Ronaldo just below Maradona as a player, and so did Paolo Maldini, great Italian defender whose 20 year career didn’t result to a big bust, when asked. But he started having issues even earlier than Maradona, I think his last semi-decent season was with Real Madrid when he was just 26-27.