With eerie timing the documentary on fashion icon Alexander McQueen who also committed suicide (in 2010) came out this week.
His reputation and collections which brought him fame and fortune were seen as irreverent, quirky, imaginative, packing an emotional punch and dark. An enfant terrible “funny and disrespectful”, McQueen loved to shock and was inspired by fetish culture, Francis Bacon and the grim history of London’s East End. His shows were the stuff of dreams and nightmares, produced on the standard fashion-business cocktail of cocaine, overwork and relentless efforts to create a perfect appearance. According to friends he was in mental decline becoming paranoid leading up to his death, which followed nine days after his mother dying; and he evidently was HIV positive.
Born 17 March 1969 late evening, London, he was a New Moon in Pisces in an intense opposition to Pluto; with a difficult, heavy-duty Yod of Neptune sextile Pluto inconjunct Venus Saturn in Aries. His Moon which tuned him into public taste is prominent in his chart, as it was for Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade but in a different way. In his case there would be an undertow of tumultuous and dark feelings of possessiveness and fear. Tr Uranus in Pisces was opposing his Pluto and around the conjunction to his Moon when he hanged himself – separating from his mother would bring out painful and obviously unbearable feelings.
An emphasised Venus Saturn conjunction would give him problems with emotional self-worth; and a Saturnine Yod focal point requires real maturity to handle well. Yves St Laurent also had a Venus focal point Yod inconjunct Moon sextile Saturn; with his Capricorn Moon opposition Pluto Mars in Cancer.
McQueen was mentored early on by another fashionista enfant terrible, Isabella Blow, but abandoned her as he rose to prominence; and her suicide three years earlier undoubtedly affected him badly. Born 19 November 1958, she had an incredibly Fixed chart with a Scorpio Sun Venus opposition Mars in Taurus square Uranus in Leo; with a Pisces Moon perhaps opposition Pluto. Tr Saturn was in Leo when she died pulling on her Fixed planets with tr Pluto just over the conjunction to her Saturn, so a depressing time. She suffered from bi-polar disorder as well as ovarian cancer and had attempted suicide several times.
There’s no one signature for suicide and astrology won’t tell you about death anyway. But heavy drug use either earlier or at the time certainly don’t help to stabilise intense personalities.
2010 Feb/March: it’s been a tough time as never experienced before during this life [to me] (I am born on March 18, 1969 a few hours after McQueen) This uranus jupiter cycle was utterly brutal for us and it required emotional maturity. I’m very very thankful to my mentors who are still alive…
I am wondering Marjorie, did Alexander also lose his mother a few years before he died, and this contributed to his depression?
Morris, It isn’t considered professional for astrologers to muse on death signatures let alone suicide. No one would handle knowing the time of their death well and it certainly isn’t information I would be happy to have of others. As to suicide, it can be infectious and put ideas into people’s heads. All astrology comes with a question mark since you never know quite how the energies of the chart will live themselves out. And it’s not a prediction where getting it wrong would be remotely helpful to put it mildly.
“There’s no one signature for suicide and astrology won’t tell you about death anyway”. I disagree Marj.
Suicide is clearly seen in the chart or 90 degree dial when using the suicide asteroids, Williams, Erigone,
Dido and Elisa.
And asteroids also reveal death as does the midpoint Saturn/Mars, in natal, solar arc. or transit.
The asteroids revealing death are Osiris, god of death and asteroid Orpheus.
Hundreds of charts on these topics have verified these themes as does the work of Martha Lang-Westcott.