Alex Zanardi, the Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist, has had his second near-brush with death. His first serious accident in 2001 on a racetrack, when he lost control, left him fighting for his life, losing 75% of his blood volume and subsequently both legs. Two years later he was back on the track in a modified racing car before moving over to Paralympic handcycling, winning himself several gold medals. In June this year he was again involved in a serious accident while competing in Italy, when he lost control of his handbike and veered into an oncoming truck. He has been treated in intensive care for serious head injuries, had three neurological surgeries and was put into an induced coma from which he has now emerged.
Born 23 October 1966 12.10 pm Bologna, Italy, he began racing karts when he was 13 which was the year his sister, a promising swimmer, was killed in a car crash.
He has a charming Sun Venus in Libra in an expansive (over-confident) square to Jupiter and trine an Aquarius Moon, with his Moon square Neptune Mercury in Scorpio. He has the generational Uranus Pluto in Virgo opposition Saturn which is also sextile/trine Mercury Neptune.
He also more significantly has an unaspected Mars in Virgo in his 8th house which can be uncompromising, single-minded and given to constant activity. Tierney remarks that an unaspected Mars can act in an unrestrained manner, since constructive limitations that could be placed by other planets are lacking. It has a tendency to allow pent-up energy to build up until it can no longer be contained. Negative outcomes tend to be driven by the unconscious and can be irrational – which will be doubly so in his case, since Mars is in the 8th. (Bil Tierney: Dynamics of Aspect Analysis.)
When his first crash happened on 15 September 2001 the harsh tr Pluto in Sagittarius opposition tr Saturn in Gemini was colliding in hard aspect with four of his Mars midpoints, including the disaster and accident-prone Mars/Pluto and Mars/Saturn midpoints as well as the surgery-associated Mars/Uranus midpoint. And tr Saturn was just into his 6th house of health.
This recent accident in June has less of a Martian feel though his Solar Arc Mars was conjunct his Sun a year ago and was still within a degree – and it usually accompanies a collision of sorts. Tr Neptune conjunct Mars in Pisces was also hitting on his 3rd house Saturn in Pisces opposition Uranus Pluto. There’s also a setback from his Solar Arc Sun square his Saturn exactly and tr Saturn just over the square to his Sun – both of which are downbeat. Tr Neptune will now move slowly across his Saturn and Uranus in 2021 into 2022 for a long recovery. And with tr Saturn now moving downwards through his 1st Quadrant he’ll be in a more seclusive phase of several years ahead anyway.
His most notable harmonic interestingly is his 18H – which can be associated with fire and explosions (and serial killers). But not the more obviously accident-prone 16H or 8H or even the victim 12H. So much is not known about harmonics and their meanings (sigh).
That unaspected Mars of his does sound as if it has a great deal to do with his blighted life.
Photo: Morio
In watching a show about John F. Kennedy, Jr., he was also reckless. Instead of dealing with the sad events in his family, he surged forward into action. He started flying when his mother was alive. She begged him to stop, and he did. However, after her death, he went back to flying. He didn’t pay attention to warnings not to fly that night. Any similarities other than Moon in Aquarius?
He had an excitable Mars in Cancer opposition Saturn so would be impatient and edgy; with his Mars trine a stubborn Mercury in Scorpio. Not really similar to Zanardi but headstrong. When his plane crashed his Solar Arc Midheaven was exactly conjunct his Mars to within five minutes of a degree (= one twelfth). His natal Mars opposition Saturn had also moved by Solar Arc to sit on top of his Uranus opposition Moon – with his Solar Arc Mars exactly opposition his natal Aquarius Moon. So he would be ramped up and not listening.
It was also – tho’ I doubt he’d have known – in the year when the Eclipse Saros cycle had returned to where it was when his father JFK was assassinated in 1963. So all kind of spooky.
Marjorie, what a madly interesting chart….especially the unaspected Mars so strong in its own house, like a loose cannon – when the spirit moves it…..yet it does trine the ascendnat and sextile the Midheaven, so clearly saved him many times. Having Mars in Virgo trine Cap ascendant is a great protection (might not be so lucky if had Sag been rising!). With Sun/Ve in th elast degrees of Libra conjunct MC he seems far more laid back than he actually is when competing in his own space. Eighth house planets are always subtle but the gorgeous aspcets to Sun/Merc/Jupiter do give a talent for juding opportunity and a mind finely balanced between courage and risk. Merc conj Nep in Scorpio gives a touch of clairvoyance in its sextile to Ur/Pl, but it’s his chart ruler – tired, old, boring old Saturn – who’s had the hand on his back and the voice in his ear.
An unaspected Mars has a reputation as being ruthless/vindictive and self-destructive so he has done very well living life on his own conditions, and bowing to fate when he does not.
Unaspected planets are called “peregrin”, and they are often truly powerful, especially if the planet is in sign/house it aligns with.
Solaia, I didn’t know that but have met two (posh!) Peregrins in my life….. the things we learn on here… I suppose unaspected planets are ‘pure’ though it makes a huge difference if they are in their strength (own sign/element) or not. Hard planets like Mars are more obvious but Moon, Merc, Venus, also Jupiter can be much more subtle, or soft. I think Mars is generally regarded as dangerous above all, when a loose cannon…..trouble is, we can never stand outside our own experience to understand how it feels to have such a big energy sort of stymied and kept down. I wonder also if, say, Mars operates more strongly in the male psyche than the female, or is that sexist to say these days?
Apologies if this is a stupid question, but what are harmonics; and how are they calculated?
Not stupid – it took me a long time to tackle them and even then its not well-researched with some of the suggested meanings not working too well. See posts August 31 2017 and September 3 2017. You can calculate them by hand but its tricky. The software does it.
They really just show you the less obvious aspects between planets. Squares, oppositions, sextiles and trines you can see easily – which are 4th, 8th, 3rd and 6th Harmonics. But the other aspects are trickier, so its just a convenient way of understanding what they are and which ones are more significant for individual charts.