Αστρο-βιογραφια του Michael Jackson

Pop legend Michael Jackson died of cardiac arrest Thursday afternoon, June 25, 2009. His passing closes an epic chapter in American and global culture, one that carried the Motown phenomenon of the 1960s, whereby black American music began its crossover to mass appeal, into the 70s, 80s and beyond.

A figure of mystery and controversy, a man perpetually chasing his lost childhood, Jackson’s’ peculiar and utterly unique life embodied American culture’s desperation to stay relevant, interesting and at the center of attention. An immensely gifted singer, dancer, songwriter and businessman, Jackson’s talent and ambition led him and his family out of poverty and into royalty status, but at the eventual expense of his well-being.

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The natal chart

Michael Joseph Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana on August 29, 1958, probably close to midnight, with a natal horoscope that (regardless of his birth time) includes a three-part conjunction, connecting the North Node and Jupiter in Libra with Neptune in Scorpio, signifying his larger-than-life imagination and mythology, and the ability to express creative ideas on a universal level.

The cross-sign connection being a reflection of the double-edged consequences of Jackson’s unique ability to detach himself from reality, a quality that ironically underlined both his superhuman talent and vision, and the ominous and puzzling accounts of scandal in his adult years.

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The death chart, part 1: Jupiter-Neptune conjunction recurrence transit in Aquarius

Jackson was declared dead at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles at 2:26 p.m., having been found unconscious and not breathing two hours earlier. At the time of his death, there was a close triple conjunction of Chiron, Neptune and Jupiter (all retrograde), mirroring the Jupiter-Neptune conjunction in Jackson’s natal chart, making what is called a recurrence transit.

The conjunction transit of Jupiter and Neptune occurs approximately every thirteen years, and having only lived to the age of 50, Jackson only experienced four recurrence transit periods in his life, including the one at the time of his death in 2009. Outlined below is a survey of the other three Jupiter-Neptune conjunction recurrence periods in Jackson’s life, a planetary account of how these transits coincided with major turning points in his life and mythology.

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1971: Goin’ Back To Indiana, Jupiter-Neptune conjunct in Sagittarius

Michael Jackson rose to fame with his brothers Jackie, Marlon, Tito and Jermaine, in the Jackson 5, who signed to Motown Records in November 1968, when Michael was only ten years-old, and began their rise to fame over the course of the following three years, scoring number one hits with I Want You Back, Who’s Lovin’ You, ABC, The Love You Save, I’ll Be There and Never Gonna Say Goodbye.

Although already the group’s lead singer and frontman, Michael got his first shot and going solo when he sang a cover of Frank Sinatra’s It Was A Very Good Year without his brothers for an appearance on Diana Ross’ ABC-TV variety special, Diana! on April 18, 1971.

Jupiter and Neptune were conjunct in Sagittarius during the taping of the show in early 1971 and its broadcast that spring, marking the beginning of Jackson’s first recurrence transit period, which would extend throughout what would prove to be one of the most pivotal years of his early career.

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Thanks to their own young age, the Jackson 5’s appeal to children was guaranteed, and sure enough the group’s image was manufactured into a Saturday morning cartoon for ABC television. The first episode made its debut at 8:30 a.m. on September 11, 1971, and featured a plot line that perpetuated the Motown-crafted myth that the group had been discovered by Diana Ross (in reality singer Bobby Taylor secured them their Motown break during the summer of 1968), who provided her own voice for the role, even though actors were used for the speaking parts of the five Jackson brothers.

Michael’s Jupiter-Neptune conjunction recurrence transit, still in effect, reflected the peculiar experience of becoming an cartoon personality, a metaphorical foreshadowing of the surreal and extreme nature of how celebrity would impact his life. His animated character’s schtick was his magical connection with the animal kingdom, particularly his pet mice, named “Ray” and “Charles”. As Jackson’s eccentric zoo of pets became a phenomenon in itself a decade later, he was apparently unconscious of the fact that his real life was becoming more and more like the way it had been portrayed in the cartoon.

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Just a week after the cartoon began airing, the Jackson 5 now had their own ABC television special called Goin’ Back To Indiana, part of which documented the group’s homecoming appearance in their hometown of Gary the previous Memorial Day weekend, May 29, 1971. The show included guest appearances from Diana Ross, Bill Cosby and Bill Russell, among others, and signaled a high point in the group’s career.

Jupiter and Neptune together signify transcending boundaries: social, physical or metaphysical, and reflect experiences that appear to transcend reality itself. The symbolism of the Jackson 5 returning to their hometown as conquering heroes of show business was obvious, especially considering the family was now transplanted to a life of luxury in California.

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With the Jackson 5 now at the top of their popularity, Michael’s first foray into a solo career was kicked off with a single, Got To Be There, released on October 7, 1971. It went to #4 on the pop charts, a respectable solo debut for the now-thirteen year-old singer, who was still passing for an eleven-year-old. Although the group continued to release albums and tour after leaving Motown records and refining their name to the Jacksons in 1975 (with little brother Randy stepping in for new Motown solo artist Jermaine), for the next decade the hard-working Jackson juggled group projects with solo releases.

Michael’s solo career became more of a focus as he became an adult and outgrew the family/group format. But its initiation at the time of the Jupiter-Neptune conjunction recurrence transit in Sagittarius served to foreshadow the incredible heights it would reach by the time of the following conjunction twelve years later, at the end of 1983 and beginning of 1984.

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1983: Thriller, Jupiter-Neptune conjunct in Sagittarius

Michael’s first adult solo album was the innovative dance classic, Off The Wall, co-produced with Quincy Jones and released on August 10, 1979. Despite being a huge success, it only won one Grammy award and didn’t snag Record of the Year. Jackson vowed it wouldn’t happen again.

He teamed up with Jones again for his next album, the mega-smash Thriller, released on November 30, 1982, an album that would transcend all kinds of barriers in the music world. From its pioneering role in launching the first black recording artist to get airplay on MTV, to the extent it developed the look and style of how the still-new medium of music video, the album made Michael the most popular and famous entertainer in the world.

Having already set the bar high with the album’s first two videos, Billie Jean and Beat It, the third one had to somehow take things further. Director John Landis, director of the 1981 horror comedy American Werewolf in London, was brought in to direct a mini-feature, a video that would take the format further than merely serving as a visual backdrop for a three-minute pop song.

Running almost fourteen minutes, the Thriller video employed horror flick cliches (it was filmed during Halloween season 1983), Michael was transformed into a supernatural ghoul disguised as a seemingly hapless high school boyfriend, who torments his date (played by Ola Ray) by using his uncanny ability to get a pack of corpse zombies to execute spectacularly synchronized dance routines.

The video premiered on MTV on December 2, 1983, as the next Jupiter-Neptune conjunction was applying in the late degrees of Sagittarius, beginning the second recurrence transit period of his life.

The fact that the video had its debut just over a year after the album was first released was a reflection of the album’s enduring popularity and still-mounting sales figures. A stunning finale to the pop sensation of 1983, let alone the century, it also marked a peak and turning point, a period that gradually came to haunt Michael for being a standard too high for even him to repeat.

Unlike his major rival of the 1980s, Madonna (less than two weeks his senior), Michael was already a fully-formed creative talent by 1983 (the year she released her debut album) and ironically lacked the freedom her relative inexperience in the music world gave her to develop creatively as her fame grew.

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Michael kicked off 1984 by filming a Pepsi commercial with his brothers, a prelude to their regrouping for an album and tour later in the year. But there was still some glory due from Thriller, the Landis video and single having closed the previous year at the top of the charts.

The accolades began with his sweep of the 11th annual American Music Awards on Monday night, January 16th, winning a total of eight awards, including a special merit award.

He arrived at the ceremony with his date, actress Brooke Shields, and was dressed for the occasion in a red Sergeant Pepper-style military jacket and black aviator glasses, an appropriate uniform for what, considering the scope of his popularity, equated to the showbiz variant of a coronation.

The Jupiter-Neptune conjunction recurrence transit now at its peak at the end of Sagittarius, the page was about to turn just as both planets headed into the following sign, Capricorn, signifying a sea change in the times and zeitgeist, a reminder that even the strongest are subject to the winds of change.

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1984: The Pepsi Generation, Jupiter-Neptune conjunct in Capricorn

Real terror struck during the filming of a second Jacksons Pepsi commercial at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium on January 27, 1984, when a spark from some lighting effects lit Michael’s hair on fire. Close friend Miko Brando, son of the actor Marlon Brando (also a close friend), was at hand to quickly extinguish the flames, possibly saving the singer’s life.

Somewhat badly burned, television news was on alert as Jackson was hospitalized overnight, footage of him being rushed from the ambulance on a stretcher – head bandaged, faced covered, hand glitter-gloved – played at regular intervals, an image that became as much a part of his legend as any of his staged performances.

The Jupiter-Neptune conjunction had now moved into Capricorn, and the icon’s helpless, veiled figure posed an ominous suggestion as to where his life and career were headed. The accident, an explosion caused for the sake of flashy entertainment that got out of hand, was a metaphor for what Michael’s life was now to become.

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Just one month after the accident, Michael had recovered well enough to follow up his memorable experience at the AMAs with an equally big win at that year’s Grammy Awards, taking away a total of eight trophies for the Thriller, including the coveted Record of the Year that had eluded Off The Wall.

He showed up with Brooke Shields again, but this time he also had child actor Emmanuel Lewis, star of the sitcom Webster, along as well. Despite being almost thirteen at the time, Lewis had the appearance of a much younger kid, due to his small size.

Another instance of foreshadowing during the Jupiter-Neptune conjunction recurrence, Lewis’ presence at the Grammy awards was the first hint the public had of what would be revealed later, concerning his special relationship with young boys.

While the facts behind this relationship remain one of pop culture’s most hotly debated topics, that the relationship existed in some form is not. Michael’s own childhood had been spent working hard at performing, and as he attained the status he now enjoyed, reaching out to connect with very young males appeared to help him share in an experience that he had been denied.

At the Grammy awards, he was again the big winner of the night, but the event now tends to be remembered as much for the company he kept as it is for his achievment.

That being said, the achievement was nothing to sneeze at. Michael and production partner Quincy Jones won a total of eight Grammy statues for their work on Thriller, a record total that is now shared with Carlos Santana (2000) and Norah Jones (2003), but still has yet to be surpassed.

As it turns out, Quincy Jones was also born with a triple conjunction in his natal horoscope involving a Lunar Node (in his case, South), Neptune and Jupiter, all in Virgo (Michael’s Sun Sign). As both men were therefore experiencing a Jupiter-Neptune conjunction recurrence transit, the big Grammy win was the cherry that capped the peak of both men’s careers, an acknowledgment and celebration of pop music’s most successful production team.

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1996-1997: Family Man, Jupiter-Neptune conjunct in Capricorn-Aquarius

Michael’s life took a dark turn in 1993, when he was accused of molesting a young boy who had stayed at his Neverland estate, a sprawling 2,800 acre fantasy land built on land he bought in 1987.

The ensuing scandal was taxing on Michael, even though the accuser’s family were ultimately paid off and charges dropped in January 1994. The negative publicity sparked a breakdown in November 1993 (more on that in the next chapter), during which he canceled dates on his world tour and checked into rehab to treat his painkiller addiction.

A secret marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis, followed on May 26, 1994, although it wasn’t confirmed publicly until August 1st. The ill-fated union was over by the end of 1995, which which time Michael collapsed during a rehearsal in December (again, more on that below).

As if matters hadn’t taken a strange enough turn already, the divorce from Presley, finalized on August 24, 1996, was promptly followed by a wedding to an already-pregnant Debbie Rowe, receptionist to Michael’s dermatologist, on November 14th.

Their child, a boy named Prince Michael Jackson Jr., was born on February 13, 1997, the first of two children he would have with Rowe before their divorce on October 8, 1999. With the end of the marriage, Michael retained custody of the children, which Rowe signed away in exchange for a settlement.

Now a father in his 40s, Michael’s Peter Pan-like lifestyle and close relationship to other people’s children, especially boys, became even more suspect and subject to criticism than before.

The wedding to Rowe and birth of son Prince occurred during Michael’s third Jupiter-Neptune conjunction recurrence transit period, now moving through the late degrees of Capricorn, at another major turning point in his life, when once again his role in the world was radically redefined.

Michael’s Jupiter-Neptune conjunction recurrence transit cycles paralleled times in his life when he was truly beginning a new chapter : 1971 – the year his solo career began, 1983-84 – at the peak of his Thriller success, 1996-97 – his marriage to Debbie Rowe and the birth of son Prince.

On March 3, 2009, as Jupiter approached conjunction to Neptune in Aquarius, Michael announced a fifty-concert show that was to held in London beginning in July, but it was not to be. The planets were conjunct and had just gone retrograde when he passed, marking the turning of one last chapter in the Michael Jackson story.

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The Death Chart, part two: Saturn transits

One other key transit to Michael’s horoscope at the time of his death was Saturn in Virgo opposite the natal Moon in Pisces, an ominous signal to his peril at the time.

Saturn signifies the passing of time and the grim reaper, the idea that the clock is always ticking and we are all perpetually running out of time. It draws the line between tragedy and comedy in life, and is associated with “adult” concepts like maturity and responsibility. For a man-child like Michael Jackson, Saturn could also be likened to the way children view “grown-ups.”

In his natal chart, Saturn in Sagittarius (quite possibly placed on his Descendant) is square the Moon in Pisces, representing his perspective of always being the child in the room, the little brother to other members of the Jackson 5.

But it also represented his driven work ethic, the hard hours he was willing to put in to reach perfection in all aspects of his work. Michael’s natal Saturn-Moon square implies that his workaholism was fueled by a strong need to please others, and indicates that he was capable of pushing himself harder than was good for him.

In the past, just as in 2009, strong Saturn transits to Michael’s natal chart were in effect at times when physical collapse forced performances to be canceled. The only difference is these previous instances were not fatal.

As mentioned in the previous chapter, amidst the crisis caused by the child molestation charges leveled against him in 1993, Michael’s addiction to prescription medicine led to his canceling tour dates in order to check into rehab on November 12. On this occasion, news that Michael had been abusing prescription medicine seemed like small potatoes, compared to what else was going on.

At that time, transiting Saturn in Aquarius was opposite his natal Mercury (ruling planet of both Virgo, his Sun sign, and Gemini, ostensibly his rising sign), reflecting the anxiety he felt over the damage to his image and reputation.

This Saturn transit reflected the public revelations about Michael’s private life, long kept safe behind closed doors, beginning what would now be a long, gradual fall from grace for the singer. Although his die-hard fans remained loyal, he would never again enjoy the kind of broad acceptance he had until then.

Two years later, on December 6, 1995, as his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley was coming to an end, Michael collapsed during a rehearsal at New York City’s Beacon Theater for a live HBO special that was due to be taped in four days. He was diagnosed with low blood pressure and told to take time off.

Although it was alleged that he might have faked the illness to get out of doing the show, the incident brought to mind the drug troubles of 1993, not to mention how he eventually died in 2009.

At the time of the collapse, transiting Saturn was conjunct his natal Moon in Pisces, signifying the end of his marriage to Lisa Marie and the turmoil in his career at the time.

As with the time of his passing, when it was opposite his Moon, Saturn transits to the most vulnerable points in Michael’s chart were coincidental with some of the lower points in a life of a human being that was otherwise blessed, gifted and willing to share what he had with the world.Source here