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Famous Scorpios
King Charles III | Winona Ryder | Marsilio Ficino | General George Patton | Henry Charrière | gallery ⇨

FAMOUS

SCORPIO

by Deborah Houlding

How does the Sun in Scorpio play out in the charts of famous people? For the deep-dive into Scorpio see the Sign Symbolism of Scorpio

King Charles III

King Charles III


Scorpios often generate polarized reactions and King Charles III has never enjoyed 'easy' popularity, tending to be passionately favoured or disliked. With his Sun and Mercury in Scorpio, his Moon in Taurus and his ascendant in Leo, there is a strong emphasis on 'fixidity' in his chart, denoting a rigid sense of self-expression - Charles was often criticized for lacking the fluid, responsive approach that Diana had, and for his reluctance to yield to shifting expectations or current opinion. His 'royal reserve' appears to be an inherited Scorpionic trait, as revealed through the synastry connections between his chart and that of Queen Elizabeth II and her mother. Charles spent much of his youth separated from his mother, who was otherwise engaged in royal duties - he was taught to be formal and polite in her company. The Queen Mother, however, doted on him and he was much more emotionally expressive in her company. The Queen Mother's Moon, at 20°24 Scorpio, falls upon Charles' Sun, but his own Moon, at 0°25 Taurus, connects tightly to the Queen's Sun at 0°12 Taurus. Despite the fondness for his grandmother, Charles clearly yearned affection from his mother, but instead was taught to exercise restraint.

We see further reflections of this in his Sun's conjunction with the Queen's Saturn at 24° Scorpio, a planet which sits prominently on her midheaven, revealing a somber, 'duty-bound' approach to royal responsibilities that has seeped through to Charles' sense of self-identity. In private, he is known to be sensitive and philosophical, as most Scorpios are, and to enjoy art as a solace from his royal responsibilities.

As early as 1951, when Charles was only two years old, Charles Carter questioned whether his horoscope could portray the character of a popular king "since Jupiter is virtually cadent, no less than six bodies in the obscure N.W. quadrant".

Carter correctly assessed that Charles would be deeply private and acutely reserved about exposing his 'self' to public scrutiny. But Charles's midheaven ruler is in conjunction with Jupiter (a traditional indication of sovereignty) and where he has combined his business acumen with his personal passions (revealed through the Moon's trine to Saturn and the 4th house emphasis: history, tradition, archaeology, anthropology, architecture, land use, property) he has proved himself dedicated, determined, and notably successful.

Data source: 'A' - news report.
Carter quote source: An Introduction to Political Astrology: Mundane Astrology, Fowler (London), 1951, p. 54.




Winona Ryder

Winona Ryder


Winona has Pluto culminating and her MC-ruler Venus darkly placed in Scorpio on the cusp of the 12th house. With her sultry features, alluring eyes, and penchant for playing psychologically dark and complex roles, she oozes that magnetic combination of passionate intensity fronted by cool reserve which makes Scorpios seem so totally captivating and absorbing.

Typical of her sign, she is focussed, ambitious, gutsy, and tenacious, but with her Moon in Pisces, her emotional sensitivity is openly revealed, allowing us to glimpse her air of vulnerability and fragility. It would be easy to underestimate Winona, but beneath her delicate appearance, there lies a steely determination and a great capacity to hold her ground. The Moon is impressionable and receptive, but the Sun is resilient and defensive; the creative trine between them and the location of her Sun on the 11th-house cusp demonstrate that she combines these conflicting principles very successfully and has a healthy capacity to bounce back from adversity.

Winona's ascendant ruler, Jupiter, is located in the 12th house, squared by the Moon, suggesting a craving for freedom of expression that seems to be denied or unattainable. Scorpios do not take kindly to invasion of their private lives, and Winona has often been heard to complain about the trappings of her celebrity status. With the Moon squaring Jupiter from the 3rd house and Mars placed on the cusp of the 3rd, press attention is seen to be a source of conflict and potential damage. The 12th is also the house of self-undoing, of course; although we may presume that her high-profile relationships have given her transformative journeys (involving possessiveness and jealousy, if we are to believe the reports of the press); the media attention that gathered around her shoplifting charge was obviously one of the hardest trials she has had to face.

The potential of Winona's natal Mars was brought out by its progressed square to her Ascendant at the time. On the day of her arrest (December 12, 2001), the Moon was passing through Scorpio, whilst transiting Mars (at 3° Pisces) was moving in to conjunct her natal Moon. Transiting Neptune (at 6° Aquarius) was also squaring her natal Sun, indicating deception but much more revealing of Neptune's theme of confusion and spiritual dissatisfaction which lay beneath her admitted misuse of drugs. Pluto (which is powerful natally by its location on the midheaven), was also transiting across her Ascendant, forcing her to re-evaluate and reform. She has since maintained that the one good thing to come out of the trial was the realisation that she wasn't happy "being so famous and being so written about all the time." Scorpios seldom are, and few can tolerate such close attention without regular sojourns within their dark, comforting crevices of retreat.

Data source: 'AA' - birth certificate, details from Frank Clifford.
Wynona quote source: Another Magazine, Issue 10, February 2006, Another Publishing Ltd, London, 2006.




Marsilia Ficino


Marsilia Ficino


See The Influence of Marsilio Ficino
by Sue Toohey

Described as hunchbacked, lisping and prone to melancholy, Ficino was also a brilliant and charismatic person. He never tired of informing his readers that he was born under the influence of Saturn... proving himself to be a profound example of the conviction that the melancholic temperament produced scholars and philosophers of exceptional ability.

Ficino saw great potential in Saturn. While he attempted to avoid the harmful influences of the planet, he also saw that it was only by confronting Saturn and overcoming these harmful influences that he would be able to reach the power that Saturn has to offer... Although he found the life of a melancholic essentially difficult, he felt it was better to go with it rather than fight against it.

George Patton


General George Patton


See Patton: Swiftly Running Waters
by Thomas Callanan

With his angular Mars, 8th house Moon and Scorpio Sun, George S. Patton was born to take no prisoners. His stated ambition as a boy was to be a general, a hero and a warrior...

The melancholic temperament is cold and dry and associated with persistence once it gets moving. Think of a boulder sitting immobile and finally pushed downhill...

In 1970 the movie, Patton, staring George C. Scott, was a huge success. It won 8 Academy awards including Best Picture and Best Actor which Scott would famously refuse. Scott's performance is one of the finest on film. His nodal axis conjoins Patton's ASC-DSC axis (7 minute orb), whilst his ascendant and angular Mercury fall just over 1° from Patton's Sun.

Henri Charrière


Henri Charrière - Papillon


See Papillon and the Soul of Republican France
by John Ball

Charrière was sentenced to life imprisonment in French Guiana for a homicide he did not commit. The story of his several escapes, the last of which led to permanent freedom in Venezuela, is related in his autobiographical work, Papillon...

The connection with both imprisonment and the fight for freedom is pointedly marked by the dual rulership of Mars over the 12th house of confinement and the 11th house of freedom and release. Prominently placed on the Midheaven, Mars signifies Papillon as one who challenged and fought his oppression and heroically transcended suffering without pretending to sever it from life. In fact the entire radix chart, viewed holistically, implies rather little about imprisonment and much about freedom.
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@ Skyscript. All Rights Reserved
Originally published: July, 2003.
Content update: 2023.

Medieval Scorpio image detail from De Sideribus Tractatus
(Padua: 1475 - authored by Julius Hyginus, illustrated by Douce)
Skyscript chart images may be freely used for any purpose without seeking permission.