The Privilege of 'Looking' Beyond the Moment: An Astrological Reflection on Alexander McQueen
by Luzia Azancot
Some of the most rewarding moments as a consulting
astrologer happen when I can tell clients when a particular crisis is
likely to end. Realising that a period of difficulties, unhappiness or
loss will eventually subside and glimpsing light at the end of the tunnel
provide clients with relief from the gloom that has pervaded their lives.
Hopefully they leave the consultation if not with a sense of optimism
then at least with something positive to look forward to.
When I saw the news of Alexander McQueen's death I wondered what had motivated a successful, talented British designer at the top of his career to commit suicide. After looking at his chart and the transits that had been affecting him I wished he had had the benefit of an astrological perspective. It might have saved his life.
Bio
Alexander McQueen was the protagonist in a rags-to-riches story. Born on 17 March 1969(i) in a working-class section of London, the youngest of the six children of a taxi driver, he showed artistic talent and fashion sense at a very early age by designing dresses for his sisters. At sixteen, armed with some art courses and the information gathered during a TV show on the scarcity of tailoring apprentices, Alexander McQueen went to work for top Savile Row tailors who sell suits to the best dressed men in London. He gained further experience as a pattern cutter with Japanese and Italian designers and eventually enrolled at the prestigious St. Martin's College of Art and Design. He showed his graduation collection at 23 and was immediately spotted by an influential fashion journalist, Isabella Blow, who bought his collection and was instrumental in launching his career.
He had a meteoric rise in the difficult world of fashion. Known for his shockingly forward designs combined with impeccable tailoring, Alexander McQueen became the 'bad boy of British fashion'. His fashions shows were always edgy, but he demonstrated keen commercial sense. In December 2000 he sold 51% of his label to the Gucci Group while remaining Creative Director. This financial backing allowed him to develop more collections, perfumes, and cosmetics, and to open stores in London, Milan, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Sarah Jessica Parker, Madonna and Lady Gaga were some of his clients.
Describing himself as the "pink sheep of the family", Alexander McQueen married his boyfriend in the summer of 2000; but that relationship did not last. His personal life was affected when Isabella Blow, his friend and initial mentor, committed suicide in May 2007. He adored his mother Joyce, and in an interview published in the Guardian in 2004, McQueen stated that his greatest fear was to die before his mother. That fear was not realised. Joyce died on February 2, and Alexander McQueen tragically hanged himself in his London apartment on February 11.(ii)
Natal
The eye
is immediately drawn to the 5th–11th house axis. A second look reveals
that the natural rulers of these houses inhabit those houses, – the Sun
in the 5th, Uranus in the 11th – adding strength to these energies.
Creative and innovative, talented and edgy, possessing an identity built
on rebellion, putting on runway shows that were unpredictable and
shocking; all speak to the manifestation of 5th and 11th archetypes.(iii) With his
5th-house planets trining Neptune and his 11th-house planets sextiling
Neptune, his presentations were creative, provocative and magical.
The Moon is in a balsamic phase, ready to conjoin the Sun. This is the last phase of the Moon prior to the beginning of a new cycle. The cosmic purpose for people born under a balsamic Moon is to be the vehicle of the future, channelling the emergence of new trends. In that sense Alexander McQueen fulfilled his purpose. Just as people born under a new Moon are at ease with beginnings, balsamic Moon types are good at endings, at separating themselves from whatever is not working for them. Unfortunately in his case life was exhausting him.
The Sun and Moon are also very close to the Moon's Nodes, indicating a birth within hours of a solar eclipse. Not all eclipses are created equal; they take on the quality of their specific Saros series, which resonates in a person's life if they are born under an eclipse. This particular one, Saros No. 7 North, is characterised by Bernadette Brady as "A very sensual family of eclipses, ranging from sudden sexual passions and lust to birth and procreative drives. This series is not subtle, and catch people off guard and confront them with their own very deep passion which may have been hidden for many years".(iv)
The theme of deep passion is pervasive in McQueen's
personality, seen essentially through the Moon-Pluto, Sun-Pluto
oppositions and the Scorpio Ascendant. Examples of how Alexander McQueen
projected himself onto the world through his runway shows speak volumes
of the Scorpio archetype: models miming their electrocution, textiles
with images of a man being executed, a show recreating a shipwreck and
another one inspired by the witches of Salem. The Ascendant is not just
how others view you: it also shapes how you view the world. McQueen's
probably viewed the world as a dark and cold place.
Venus in Aries stationary retrograde conjunct Saturn in the 6th house of work is another feature in his horoscope that is quite relevant to McQueen's life story and is also rich in archetypal symbolism. "To be born in either of the stations – retrograde or direct – signifies a powerful connection with the interior mechanism of the Golden Section."(v) The Golden Section vibrates to the 5th harmonic, which is the number of creative spirit. His creativity was first expressed by the precision of pattern cutting for tailoring purposes. Saturn represents that quality of perfection, the structure necessary for a well tailored garment. Aries brings to mind the use of scissors, which is the weapon of choice for fashion designers. In the 6th house this combination can represent the workaholic that Alexander McQueen was. At a personal level, a Venus-Saturn conjunction speaks of difficulties in relationships, maybe even denial of love by his father. This aspect probably affected him in childhood and influenced his love life in adulthood. Sue Tompkins(vi) observes that when the road of Venus is blocked by Saturn, one gives more importance to the other symbol of the feminine, the Moon. The mother, as represented by Moon, probably became his emotional anchor, a focal point in his life.
Transits
Alexander McQueen had a large number of planets and sensitive points within a short range: Pluto, Ascendant/Midheaven midpoint, North Node, Jupiter and Uranus from 23 Virgo to 2 Libra in very close oppositions to Moon, Sun, South Node and Chiron in 23 Pisces to 2 Aries. As a consequence, the energy of transiting planets affects this seesaw pattern in a concentrated way. Some periods of time are excellent and others are characterised by stressful and difficult events. One such period for Alexander McQueen started five years ago.
Some Pluto transits are once-in-a-lifetime events, and when they
strike it represents intense periods of time synchronic with powerful
changes in our lives. Pluto is associated with transformation, which is
the nice way of characterising destruction and rebirth. Starting in 2005
and 2006 transiting Pluto squared the Moon, signalling severe emotional
experiences and possible power struggles. At the same time Pluto also
squared itself, amplifying the need for profound change. Next came a
Pluto square to the Sun and to the Ascendant/Midheaven midpoint, a time
of questioning his identity and the personal and professional path that
he traced for himself. Alexander McQueen seems to have powerfully
reaffirmed his position as a premier designer, but surely this year was
stressful to say the least. At the same time transiting Saturn, the
planet of restrictions and responsibilities, was conjoining his
Midheaven. This energy reinforced the workaholic in him, burdening him
with extra responsibilities and duties. Also during the same year,
Neptune was entering McQueen's 4th house, signalling the possibility of
confusion at home, situations that are less than clear. Another possible
effect is a loss connected to his roots, to mother or a mother figure.
This was the year that Isabella Blow, the woman who discovered him,
committed suicide. In 2008 Pluto squared the Nodes, a turning point in
one's life. Looking beyond transits, in September of 2008 secondary
progressed Mars had become stationary, signalling a decrease in subtle
vitality and energy.
But Alexander McQueen was not done with Pluto transits. In 2009 Pluto squared Jupiter, Uranus and Chiron. These energies gave him the drive to try new things such as designing for the stage. He created the costumes for a Sadler's Wells production based on the life of an 18th-century French 'chevalier' who by trade as a secret agent and by choice as a cross dresser, spent a lot of time in women's clothes. The character was strongly divided between his female and male identities. It led McQueen to remark, "This male-female character was so up my 'strasse'. I'm interested in the dark psychosis of his mind. There's a melancholy there….."
This statement about melancholy was certainly a projection from McQueen's own life. His seesaw natal pattern was now being activated by transiting Saturn. All through 2009, transiting Saturn opposed the Moon, Sun, North Node and Chiron while conjoining Pluto, South Node, Jupiter and Uranus. His energy was low; every endeavour must have seemed hampered by real or perceived obstacles resulting in emotionally trying times compounded by loneliness.
Saturn was not working alone. Uranus was transiting the other side of the Zodiac in opposition to transiting Saturn. Uranus, the energy of change and upsets, had conjoined McQueen's Moon in March and October 2009 and transited over the Moon for the last time on 7 January 2010. This marks a period of serious emotional turmoil possibly equated with his mother's illness, but it may have been synchronic with other distressing events in his love life. On 2 February 2010, as Uranus applied to the Sun/Moon midpoint, his mother died, and one day before her funeral, Alexander McQueen ended his life. The midpoint between any two planets represents the merging of those two energies; Sun and Moon, identity and emotional needs, his life force and the image of his mother. Transiting Uranus on the Sun/Moon midpoint was the last straw.
Some of transits described are once-in-a-lifetime transits. Having so many in a period of several consecutive years must have been very draining and exhausting. He had been driving himself relentlessly, working very hard with no 'down' time, with the constant pressure of collections to be produced for every season. Although he created beautiful clothes and fashion was his business, he did not lack perspective and depth. He is known to have said "At the end of the day, it's just clothes". Clothes, fame, success, money were not enough without his emotional anchor.
What the astrologer might have pointed out
People born under a balsamic Moon need 'down time'; they need to replenish their energies. They have to find ways to recharge batteries in order to continue to release their vision of the future. The astrologer might have pointed that out to McQueen, stressing the importance of rest and retreat.
The astrologer might have alerted him to the meaning of
the natal eclipse, cautioning him about sudden powerful emotions that
might erupt in his psyche, emotions that did not need to be suppressed but
rather to be directed towards creative outlets.
The astrologer might have mentioned that transiting Pluto and its dramatic influences were out of McQueen's planetary picture, providing some relief. Saturn would continue to affect him but Uranus, applying to his natal Sun and North Node in the 5th, would bring excitement, a new wave of creativity, new relationships. Alexander McQueen would have the opportunity to redefine what he wanted out of life, to live according to his own expectations and rules rather than to the expectations of others. In his personal life, he would probably be more aware of his emotional needs and able to satisfy them.
The astrologer might have informed him of the upcoming transits of Jupiter that bring opportunities for expansive feelings, for confidence, for abundance, and for relationships that are easy and enjoyable. The cosmos would also provide him with periods of time appropriate for healing and coming to terms with the loss and pain.
Would an astrologer have prevented his tragic suicide? I don't know… but the privilege of a long-term perspective given by an astrologer is invaluable when considering the dark and desperate periods of one's life.
Notes:
(i) 17 March 1969, 10:45 pm,
Lewisham, England, source Astrodabank
(ii) Bio material adapted from Daily
Telegraph online, 11 Feb 2010
(iii) Archetypes refer to the common
energy of a planet, corresponding sign and house.
(iv) Bernardette Brady, The
Eagle and the Lark, Samuel Weiser, Maine, 1992, page 317.
(v)Retrograde Planets:
Traversing the Inner Landscape, Erin Sullivan, Arcana, Penguin Books,
London, 1992, page 91.
(vi) Sue Tompkins, Aspects in
Astrology, Element Books, Great Britain, 1989, page 185.
Image sources:
Chart provided by author, RR: C
McQueen: Ed Kavishe / fashionwirepress.com [CC BY 3.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Camille Belle, dress: Fashion photographer Anthony Citrano at
http://www.zigzaglens.com/ [CC BY 2.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
McQueen shop: Dirk Ingo Franke [CC BY-SA 3.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
Tombstone: Melissa Highton [CC BY-SA 4.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
First published by: The Astrological Journal, Jul/Aug 20190
Author:
Luiza
Azancot, NCGR-IV, trained as a consulting astrologer in the USA,
is member of ISAR, NCGR and AA has been professional astrologer for more
than a decade. Presently living in Portugal, her country of origin after
29 years abroad. Works primarily as a consulting astrologer with clients
all over the world with whom she consults in four different languages. In
2015 she published a book of astrological essays for the Portuguese
market and keeps a bilingual Luiza Azancot - Diário de uma Astrologa
facebook page. Website: http://www.luizaazancot.com.
© Luiza Azancot - 2010/2019
