Renowned and popular director and actor Rob Reiner has been killed along with his wife, mother of his four children, in a suspected double homicide in Hollywood. He came to prominence as Mike “Meathead” on the CBS sitcom All in the Family in the 1970s, and appeared in Sleepless in Seattle, The First Wives Club, Primary Colors and The Wolf of Wall Street amongst others. He also directed When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men and The Shawshank Redemption amongst many others.
Born 6 March 1947 10pm New York, with a well-known actor father and mother, he had a filmic Pisces Sun and Mercury in his entertaining 5th house opposition a Virgo Moon and square an 8th house Uranus, making him inspired and innovative in directing and writing, as well as a talented performer. He had an influential and controlling Pluto on his Midheaven conjunct Saturn opposition Venus in Aquarius.
A communicative though hidden Air Grand Trine of a 12th house Neptune trine Venus trine an 8th house North Node, was formed into a Kite by Venus opposition Saturn, making Saturn his driving planet.
His Saturn was being massively assaulted astrologically around now with tr Pluto in opposition (conjunct Venus), with his Progressed Mars being square his Saturn exactly and his Progressed Moon was conjunct his Saturn. Any one of those would be challenging but all together it would be over whelming. Tr Pluto opposition Saturn is depressing and heavy going. Progressed Mars square Saturn is high-risk and destructive, accident-prone and short tempered; with his Progressed Moon adding another layer of woe.
His 5th house Pisces Sun and Virgo Moon were also bring triggered by the September Lunar Eclipse at exactly the same degrees. The 5th house rules children as well as creativity and entertainment.
According to press reports his son Nick has been taken into custody and charged. Though nothing has been proved so comments should be reserved until there is a legal verdict.
Ten years ago there was a drama which documented Nick’s long struggle with addiction. Nick co-wrote the script with a friend from rehab, inspired by their experiences, while Rob directed the movie, drawing from what he went through as a father. In it the son resents the harsh way his father and mother are treating his addiction, with mandatory stints in rehab. At the end the father issues an apology for the sometimes-unsympathetic way he treated his son.
Nick Reiner, 14 September 1993 is a Sun Virgo in an excitable trine to Uranus Neptune in Capricorn, sextile a determined Pluto in Scorpio. His Pluto is also on the focal point of a Fixed T square to Venus in Leo opposition Saturn in Aquarius – so an overloaded Pluto in Scorpio. His highly strung Uranus Neptune are also square a volatile and overly-impulsive Mars Jupiter conjunction in Libra. It is a chart that is spilling over with exuberant energy and immensely intense, battened down and repressed at the same time.
His Solar Arc Mars is conjunct his Pluto exactly now which pulls together his two central configurations by Solar Arc which usually points to a life-changing moment – and Mars Pluto certainly indicates anger, frustration, high-risk. Whether or not he was involved the brutal slaying of his parents, it would have a enormous effect.
But nothing is proved until it is proved in court.
The Hollywood chart is also showing shock and fear from this tragedy with the Solar Arc Mars conjunct Saturn now and the Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the South Node for a shocking event on home territory.
ADD ON: Astrologically speaking Rob Reiner and Trump were always going to be at cross purposes with RR’s Full Moon square Trump’s wayward Uranus in the 10th. RR’s Mars was close to Trump’s Descendant for arguments and a fiery chemistry. RR’s Midheaven Pluto was conjunct Trump’s Pluto for a tug of war.
That translated in the relationship chart into a struggle-for-the-upper-hand composite Sun opposition Jupiter square Pluto.
Psychologically speaking it is Trump’s narcissism arguably inflating towards dementia. The narcissist can’t bear not being centre of attention – so inserts themselves into whatever scenario is ongoing – and in Trump’s case that embraces all headline news stories. He also harbours a cauldron of spite and hatred for anyone who stands against him. So sympathy for a murdered Rob Reiner is beyond his capability.
Odd thoughts from psychoanalytic literature on delusional narcissism.
London psychoanalyst Christopher Bollas talks simultaneously of the pervert and the fascist as if they were interchangeable. He speaks of the “empty heart of the pervert” – “On the verge of a moral vacuum, the mind splits off [its] dead core self and projects it into a victim” who then becomes “a disposable nonentity.” The profoundly destructive processes are then denied by a form of delusional narcissism. There is a false idealization of the self, a delusional grandiosity in the perpetrator.
The pervert/fascist mind purges itself of what it has contained. “The cleansing of the self suggests the possible birth of a new, forever empty self to be born …. with no past (which is severed) and with a future entirely of its own creation.”
Janine Chasseguet-Smirgel, the French analyst, writes eloquently both about perversion and group delusion. “He who does not think “she writes” as the group does is excluded, harassed, killed or declared insane.”
The same process of denigration, character assassination, caricaturing is further described by Christopher Bollas, talking about The Fascist State of Mind – one which he says “entertains no doubt or uncertainty”. Distortion of the views of opponents to render them less intelligible and credible is the first move. They have to be discredited because no separation of view is possible from the accepted one.
Nick’s mother Michele Singer Reiner was born on march 3, 1957.
Speakerdee, your comments mirror our family story except our member’s diagnosis is BiPolar 1. I am sure the Reiners did everything possible to heal this tragic son. NAMI programs are, indeed, lifesavers. Marjorie, an interesting though so-sad post.
So glad they finally stated Nick had schizophrenia. My sister was labeled with schizoaffective disorder. She could be aggressive and violent. She was intelligent with an IQ of 150. I placed mom into a care home b/c I could no longer trust sis around our mother as she developed Alzheimer’s. It was helpful to go to NAMI (National Alliance of Mental Illness) programs. Schizophrenics smoke more than the average population, nicotine is helpful to the brain. Online, there are many pics with Nick smoking.
Thanks, Marjorie, for this post, and Speakerdee for bringing the schizophrenia news to the fore. It is hard to picture what life factor other than a severe organic mental illness like schizophrenia could cause such rage in a young man, even a heavy drug user, to actually murder his own parents in their own bedroom. The son could not have suffered privation, at least economically and his parents appear to have been upstanding people, even in their extraordinary, rarified social circles. With the staff, publicity control and security limitations that most famous people live in, it seems likely that only close friends and family would have known that sort of clinical information about Nick Reiner. At least it is a plausible explanation for an unbelievable event that there were really severe psychological problems at the heart of it.
Looking at the chart, when you first posted it, I noticed the 3 natal planets in different signs at 21 degrees – Venus, Sun, Mars. Venus/Leo-Saturn/Virgo-Pluto/Libra are in a fixed T-square within 2 degrees either side of Pluto in the middle, in Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius.
Both Sun and Moon are ruled by Mercury at 5 Libra, which is void of any classic aspects though widely conjunct the Sun (as usual). Without aspects a bright mind (Mercury) in a cardinal negotiating-oriented sign like Libra would tend to be rudderless unless there are compensating aspects, but Mercury is unfortunately opposed by Black Moon Lilith.
The Moon is in an awkward spot too as it has no inner planet aspects and only a semi-square (45) to Jupiter in Libra, which conjunct the Mars tied up with a separating sextile to Venus and the Sun in Virgo (ruled by the rudderless Mercury). Probably it’s a famous family Jupiter problem, though the house is not known without a precise birth time.
It is made even more complex the exact Uranus/Neptune conjunction at 18 Capricorn, both retrograde natally. Those 2 hard to manage, wildly creative and non-conforming, spaced out and illusionary or delusionary, planets are tied together in a concrete, political sign that prizes conformity and caution above all. Not a recipe for psychological happiness, even if the person uses the Capricorn natal base to do concrete things in a world of mental exploration. It’s not an easy mix and now Uranus/Neptune by progression, long since gone direct, have moved on to the next sign at 20 Aquarius. Adjoining signs have difficulty seeing eachother because there is no effective aspect at 30 degrees, and the elements (earth/air) are incompatible to say the least. With the progressed conjunction being in rebellious Aquarius, Nick Reiner must have been a hard package for any parents to understand, never mind people with fame and fortune and intense, busy lives even at retirement age.
And finally, the topper is that progressed Mars at 23 Scorpio, having just exacting made conjunction to natal Pluto. That is just what nobody could have imagined in a volatile situation such as the one described in the news about a party where father and son had an open argument.
Rob Reiner’s natal chart has nothing at 23 Scorpio, though his natal and progressed Jupiter is in the sign. However, his natal Pluto at 11 Leo Rx at the Midheaven has long since gone direct by progression and had reached exact conjunction to the natal degree. Also, there are not a lot of degrees in common between the father/son charts, except they have a lineup at 2 degrees in adjoining signs (again, adjacent signs are not compatible by element unless the plants in them are in harmony by mutual reception or a pleasant aspect). Rob has both natal Saturn and progressed Moon at 2 Leo. Nick has natal Moon at 2 Virgo (house unknown).
All in all, it is a very sad picture and a puzzle. Could the crux be the pressured NeptuneRx/UranusRx in Capricorn, or maybe the Saturn Rx in Aquarius for Nick? I’m leaning to Saturn because it is an immovable planet in a exploratory fixed sign – which is the contradiction (in spades) of Saturn being the traditional ruler of Aquarius (along with Uranus). Maybe the son should have been a scientist with that combo, but how could it be possible in Hollywood with a majorly famous dad who had Pluto at 11 LeoRx sextile Neptune at 10 LibraRx? The power sextile worked for Rob. Nick has some sextiles and trines too, but the T-square and the Uranus/Neptune make it a hard one.
Anyway, with all sympathy to the bereaved family, that is just one person’s take. Undoubtedly there’s going to be a lot more press on this deeply unhappy story.
Correction, sorry! Nick’s natal Venus is at 21 Leo; natal Sun at 21 Virgo; natal Mars at 21 Libra (not Saturn/Pluto, darn).
Forgot to mention that Rob’s progressed chart has 3 planets at 2 degrees – progressed Moon/natal Saturn are at 2 Leo in the 9th, approaching the midheaven (assuming correct birth time), but also progressed Sun in Gemini and Mars in Taurus are at 2 degrees. They all link to Nick’s 2 degree natal Moon in sensitive Virgo. Secondary progressions don’t necessarily match up with solar arcs, but the natal to natal should hold up on examination. Nick’s birth time is not known.
Regarding if Saturn/Pluto had to work out that way. I think the more we we delve into our own unconscious, however difficult it is, facing our own demons, the more we can avoid events/things happening “out there,” or externalizing of what’s inside. But, even with that said, I think some things are fated, set in stone.
A general question for knowledgeable astrologers: If someone were aware of and understood the potentially devastating negative effects of Saturn/Pluto, etc., aspects such as Rob Reiner experienced, is there anything the individual could do to counter or lessen their impact? I guess this also comes down to the old argument of free will vs. determinism.
Thank you for your insight.
Hinduism Eastern astrology states God keeps 6 things in his hands one of which is death so it cannot be avoided. Saturn is Death God YamRaj in Hinduism. Also,he is gloomy n wherever he sits n 3 houses opposite r said to be always bickering ,not at peace and Pluto is rage so only way is to avoid and “get out of the place where peace is disturbed”(as a policeman advised me) (their job is to deal with it so they know best). Choose self by choosing peace
Hello Nicole,
I recently had the transit of Pluto opposing my natal saturn, which is in the 9th house and very close to the 10th house cusp. Pluto in 3rd house had a very impactful effect on me, destroying my career and my sense of security and stability. The lack of security has affected me a lot, as you can imagine. It is a very challenging, no-joking transit with old structures being destroyed and I don’t think there is any way to avoid or lessen their impact, unfortunately. Regarding my career, it wasn’t meant to last and I have prepared a career change since many years. But without any result yet. Saturn is the ruler of my 3rd and 4th house and Pluto asks for a profound shift in term of personal growth. I had to question my upbringing and how it impacts my work ethics. I highly suspected my undiagnosed mother to have a NPdisorder. As a child, I was the scapegoat and was humiliated, manipulated, physically abused, threatened with knife. Composite has a conjunction of Pluto/Uranus/Saturn semi-sextile mars square moon, opposed sun/mercury. As an adult, I have grown with a sense of perfectionism and that I was never enough. Until recently, I thought that the trauma was behind me and that I was ok, but it wasn’t true. Perfectionism is a never-ending path leading to very poor mental health and burn-out. Pluto is asking me to look deeper at the core roots of it. It’s very painful but it has to be faced. My mother has probably repeated the generational trauma and the cycle of violence and she choose to get her vengeance on her own children. I have choose to stop the cycle but the suppressed anger has to go somewhere and I had many phases of self-destruction in my life. But Pluto now transiting in my 4th wants to be sure that the consequences of my very controlling upbringing (saturn 9th house) are totally wipe out to create new ways to relate to my career, relationship and my own trauma. Is it free will? I don’t know. My natal chart is so clear and obvious that I often wonder if it was already written. Past can’t be undone but nonetheless, future is not doomed. This transit is very difficult, but accepting it as a part of a personal growth makes it easier to accept, I reckoned. Resistance seems futile. Also in face of adversity, I have discovered true friendship. So not totally negative. Pluto wants authenticity and honesty and it will remove everything until then.
It’s very sad when it implies such a tragedy like the homicide of Rob and Michelle Reiner.
Two interesting video (the Astrology podcast) on fate (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1wIprhk9AE&t=8851s) and the sensitive topic of death and embracing fate (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS7Mus1eutQ&t=66sc)
PS : english is not my first language. Hope it’s understandable 🙂
@Cath, thank you for sharing this. Your English is excellent and I never would have guessed English is not your first language. What you shared could also describe some of the family treatment and “car crash” elements of my life. I need to go back to understand the underlying astrology that’s impacted my life too. You sound like an amazingly strong, resilient person — never underestimate your own strength and ability to survive. Again, thanks so much.
Thank you very much Nicole. Your words of encouragement mean a lot. I am following Marjorie website since a long time, mostly reading. I have always appreciate your point of view, as you seem like a compassionate and kind person. Trust your strength and be kind to yourself. The inner child knows the way. Not easy path but peace of mind is rewarding. Wish you all the best and thanks again.
Thanks for your kind words, Cath!
I do try to understand others’ viewpoints, often without success. And I’m very conscious of my lack of astrological knowledge, but find it fascinating and want to know more.
Saturn Pluto on its own is remarkably strong and resilient so will stand up to challenging influences better than most. I am always wary of progressed Mars since it can have a significant car-crash type of effect. It was more the build up of several truly difficult influences that seemed astonishing (and scary). Could it have been avoided is the unanswerable question?
With those influences to be honest I doubt he would have walked away unscathed.
Thank you so much for your insight, Marjorie. Lots to think about!
good morning Nicole.
This IS the $64,000 question, isn’t it? 🙂
I’m a math, science gal so, inevitably, I had to test your question in my own life. In 2000 I saw that tPluto would be conjunct my nSaturn in the 12th in 2004 and conjunct my Sag Asc. in 2005-2006. In astrology books, this is predicted to be a transformative time. I decided to take the intervening 4 years to test whether it was worth knowing this or not.
My explanation is this… The fate is that a tsunami was coming. The free will?…. could I make some choices that would put me at the top of the mountain rather than on the beach 5 years hence.
My life was so good at that time! It seemed incredibly unfair that, after all my hard work and personal healing, the Gods were STILL going to demand more! However.. there it was. For those 4 years I consciously and very pragmatically addressed every area of my life. What do you need with the s**t hits the fan? Freedom… money, mobility, health.
So, step by step I took care of any “loose ends” in my life. Sold my dream home/acreage, bought a new car, banked extra money, and completed a 2 year spiritual training course. This was the Pluto transit over my Saturn in the 12th. Practical, responsible steps.
Right on time, end of May 2005, I was at the scene of the death of a very dear friend… a plane crash. I was supposed to be on that plane. Even as the aftermath was playing out, I had a calmness inside because I KNEW that this was the Plutonian moment.
Absolutely everything in my life changed after that. However, I had the money and the time to grieve, to wander, to feel. The tsunami came, however, without question, it helped me to know AND to use that knowledge to prepare… at every level I could think of! Given that transit and SA Pluto have been kicking my chart around for years now, this is my continued approach. I’m not as diligent as I was in those 5 years, but I do work with my chart more now.
Having said that, I am not one to fret or check my chart daily or to worry about the future. I have a somewhat playful, practical, “let’s see” approach. Maybe I’m fooling myself!! 🙂
Thank you, Sandra, for sharing your compelling, enlightening experience. Definitely food for thought — and adds to the usefulness of astrology.
You are welcome, Nicole!
That natal Saturn in Sag in the 12th is definitely my Teacher.
No matter what I learn, no matter how esoteric…
this Master Craftsman, as I call Saturn, is always saying, “Does this have feet?!!
Btw… I am also very human and am basically bumbling along. 🙂
I do enjoy seeing your name and picture when you post, and also respect what you post!!
Thank you!!
I’m not a knowledgeable astrologer Nicole, but just as a general observation, when Saturn last conjuncted my Pluto (v close, almost exact), my mother died. When Pluto conjuncted my Saturn (again, almost exact), my father died. I also had a Jupiter return for Mum, Jupiter almost exactly opposition Jupiter when I lost my Dad. I don’t think anything I could have done would have made any dfference. It was like a steamroller running over my life. Not much help I know! It’s just what it is.
Thank you for the most interesting add-on, Marjorie.
RIP to the Rob & Michele Reiner
Adding a Chiron connection for very sensitive synastry between father and son, potentially reflecting frustration, challenge, or volatility in their relationship: Rob’s natal Mars (2 Pisces) opposed Nick’s natal Chiron (1 Virgo).
Just so dark and tragic. The son has been refused bail, but as Marjorie says nothing has been proven as yet.
I wonder if the forthcoming Solar Eclipse at 28-9 Aquarius, square Uranus, in February 2026, is also showing an influence two months beforehand? Marjorie writes:
“The Hollywood chart is also showing shock and fear from this tragedy with the Solar Arc Mars conjunct Saturn now and the Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the South Node for a shocking event on home territory.”
The Hollywood Nodes are 28 Leo/Aquarius, so are also close to the USA 4 July Moon in Aquarius – degree depending on which time is used. Currently, the transiting Saturn/Pluto midpoint is 28 Aquarius, which seems like an implacable, intense energy, with potential themes of Father (Saturn) and buried rage and secrets (Pluto). Is that transit highlighting February’s eclipse perhaps?
DJT’s disgusting comment aside, I’m wondering about his natal ascendant 29 Leo, and Mars 26 Leo and the possible effects of the eclipse at his descendant.
It is also chilling to see that the father and son pair guilty of the Bondi Beach atrocity echo a twisted father and son motif. Australia 1901 has Mars 11 Virgo, Uranus 14 Sagittarius, Pluto 16 Gemini, so September’s Lunar Eclipse may have triggered that t-square. Australia 1788 has Saturn at 28 Aquarius, Moon 20 Virgo.
F.O.E. indeed.
(fear of eclipse)
This is heartbreaking. In often aloof Hollywood, Rob and Michele seemed like genuinely grounded, good people. I think in Rob’s case, it must have been the Virgo Moon grounding him. And, despite pushing 80, he might have had 20 good years ahead given his father Carl was sharp until the very end at 98. Carl’s friendship with Mel Brooks is still my favorite heartwarming Hollywood story, so the Reiner family really brings light and shadows.
Sympathies to the Astrologer. It can’t have been EZ to unpack another whopper tragedy on the heels of Bondi Beach.
Were you wowed by the Exact degrees showing ? I mean, of course, they add up, but does the preciseness and quantity stand out to you, Marjorie?
It made me wonder abt the mother’s numbers as well. Perhaps more Astro excavating down the road.
Appreciate the Hollywood chart. It was striking how little celeb comments there were at the start of the news- a true indicator of how hard this tragedy hit. (Also, the way it was initially reported stands out – oblique and detailed at the same time – officials kept it extra sparse while private intell revealed clear details. The carefulness of public players was not surprise, but the decorum of the non garish leaks lacked the usual mania…).
Unspeakable tragedy.
Eclipses since times old, have always been feared – especially Lunar eclipses.
The exact degree and sign usually repeats every 19 years.
Hey, Caroline.
My reply is above !
Susan Millar writes about dealing with eclipses: ‘a full moon lunar eclipse, will help you to see the true character of someone close – brace yourself, you may not like what you see.
It is hard to see someone’s true colors, but if you are being shown this, be grateful. You might have been operating in the dark for much too long, putting yourself in jeopardy”. She goes on to say “Realize that there is little or no chance of getting things reversed. Eclipses demand that we move forward, not backward to the way things used to be. Save your dignity and do not plead – eclipses are final. ”
And finally “if you act under an eclipse, your plan would not work out quite the way you expected, and it will likely not be to your advantage. “
Sorry to inform but it’s lucky for those born under it..eclipse. as a movie line went,”one is never defeated when under same stars during which he was born
I’m not sure about ‘lucky’, Rachana. But I do see them as fated to a degree and opportunities for growth.
It did surprise me – it is not often you get such exact exact indicators.
Imagine drugs were at the root of it.
Nodding, re drugs.
Thank you for all.
Thanks, Marjorie. Such a tragedy. Of course Trump posted a really vile, nasty post about Reiner after his death. Can you look at their astrological interactions?
Very upsetting for the poor family. That was a low thing to do, though I’m certain he is more than capable of going even lower.
That’s awful. The lack of empathy is appalling.
Callous. That’s what it is.
Quoting his buddy Epstein from one of the released emails, ““i have met some very bad people, none as bad as trump. not one decent cell in his body”
I mistakenly thought that quote from Epstein abt Trump was a joke. So I had to search it.
Imagine being spoken about that way, by a predator – of CHILDREN.
Good LORD.
Interesting Epstein uses the same child-like and ridiculous language as Trump to describe people with character flaws: “very bad people’. Seriously, who writes like that? 6 year olds.
Thanks, Marjorie. He and Michele had three children together. He adopted his eldest child, Tracy, who was the daughter of his first wife, Penny Marshall. He raised her as if she were his actual child.