The Draconic Synastry of a Nightmare Relationship - Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas

By Victor Olliver

Finding the soul purposes of doomed or very troubled relationships through the horoscope.

The Wilde/Bosie ‘nightmare’

In Britain’s 1890s, Queen Victoria’s long, dreary, po-faced reign of sexual hypocrisy experienced a reality wake-up call on a spectacular scale. A scandal erupted that makes the lurid Depp/Heard court case of 2022 look like a village panto. Two men – the famous, middle-aged playwright Oscar Wilde and the young, pretty aristocrat Lord Alfred Douglas nicknamed Bosie – had fallen in love. Their interludes together featured ravishing conversations in London’s finest restaurants and bouts of illegal non-penetrative sex (probably intercrural, aka coitus interfemoris involving the joy of legs) in London’s finest hotels.

Bosie introduced his lover to the world of gay incensed brothels and their ‘renters’ (male sex workers), perhaps because Wilde was not physically to his taste. He preferred fellow young pretty men. Wilde soon got the message. Their love survived this disappointment as it eased into a platonic tension. At some stage Wilde got drawn into the feud between Bosie and his grotesque father, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry, who regarded the two men’s suspected homosexual relationship as an abomination. On one occasion Queensberry was stopped from pelting Wilde with vegetables at a London theatre. Later, on a club card, Queensberry wrote that Wilde was a ‘somdomite’ (he meant sodomite) and in consequence Wilde launched a foolish defamation suit. This failed because the Marquess dug up evidence of Wilde’s use of renters. Nothing in Charles Dickens’ novels had ever shone a light on this demographic.

Wilde’s defamation case threw up evidence that interested state prosecutors, and the rest is history. After two trials for gross indecency and sodomy, Wilde was jailed for two years hard labour. Newspapers were jubilant. Gin-sozzled toothless crones danced in the street.

The Wilde/Bosie relationship was a nightmare on two levels. In terms of the tragic outcomes for both and in terms of their interpersonal battles. Wilde indulged and forgave while Bosie leeched and mocked.

I recently gave a talk at the 2022 UK Astrological Association conference on Wilde/Bosie (and other troubled pairings) and I defined a ‘nightmare relationship’ simply as ‘a bond that starts in love or lust but then transitions into war.’

My interest was whether such relationships serve a useful soul purpose for both parties – and I applied draconic astrology to this question. Soon I shall describe this technique. It is straightforward but requires a nuanced understanding to obtain the most useful results.

There is little doubt that Wilde’s public humiliation and time in jail contributed to his premature death at the age of 46. It is not commonly known that after his release, Wilde – in self-exile in continental Europe – resumed his relationship with Bosie, at least for a short while. Rupert Everett’s fine movie The Happy Prince (2018) covers this last act of their relationship and is worth watching.

The relationship in its first phase was passionate and volatile punctuated by rows and separations. This was during Wilde’s most successful period as a playwright and novelist in the early 1890s. His classic comic plays include The Importance of Being Ernest and Lady Windermere’s Fan. His one novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was overtly gay in its themes and used against him at his trials. It was this book which drew Bosie to Wilde in the first place – he was obsessed with Dorian Gray. The interplay of reality-meets-fiction is a subject of fascination in its own right. In the novel a middle-aged man falls for a beautiful young man and tragedy follows. In the London reality, a middle-aged man fell for a beautiful young man and tragedy followed. Dorian Gray is both prophetic and key to the actual tragedy.

We have glimpses of the troubled relationship from Wilde’s long letter De Profundis (‘from the depths’) written to Bosie from jail.

You demanded without grace and received without thanks … But it was no pleasure to me to have to pay every single thing for you from your morning shave to your midnight hansom. It was a horrible bore….

Wilde recalls Bosie screaming at him:

When you are not on your pedestal you are not interesting.

Synastry

Most of you will be familiar with synastry in one form of another through the comparing and contrasting of natal charts to appraise relationship. Or through composites which examines the midpoints between either person’s planets and points.

In this piece I am not looking at composites. I am only comparing the two natal charts of Wilde and Bosie. We are looking to identify individual energies and how these work with those of the other party in the relationship.

Synastry assesses the level of compatibility and the strengths and weaknesses of a relationship. We look to see what type of intra-aspects are formed between planets and points when we put the two charts into a biwheel – there’s a lot more to this of course but I am assuming an understanding of this topic.

The intra-aspects between respective Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars etc are examined – and of especial interest are ‘mirror intra-aspects’ where a planet or point shares an aspect with its equivalent between the two people e.g., both Venuses are square or trine each other. This is an intra-aspect of significance.

Ordinarily, we examine the synastry of the tropical charts – by which we mean the chart that is based on the Sun starting at the Vernal Equinox Point or 0° Aries each year. In this piece I am introducing you to the draconic chart which is a specialist, supplemental, Moon-based one – and this can be used to discover the soul purpose of a relationship, even one that turns out to be a ‘nightmare’.

But first let’s summarise draconic astrology. It is straightforward to set up a draconic chart. Less straightforward is interpretation and understanding how draconic astrology interacts with the tropical chart.

Draconic astrology and ‘appointments with fate’

In draconic astrology, we look for the soul purpose of the relationship as pertains to both people involved.

I recently did a podcast with the psychological and esoteric astrologer Ana Isabel on this very topic. She made some wonderful points I want to borrow and share.

She described potentially challenging life experiences as ‘appointments with God’ – though I think atheists can customise this thought into something else. How about: Appointments with reality? These are experiences that are wake-up calls. They stop us in our tracks. Elsewhere she spoke of ‘appointments with fate’.

In a difficult or nightmarish relationship. ‘You meet God in the other’, Ana said. That unpleasant encounter with another person is ‘your encounter with God’. Or with reality. In other words, for your personal development or self-perfection, it is essential to live out certain experiences that compel us to face certain truths about ourselves and about life itself.

There may be emotional anomalies or negativities that only surface when we face them in our partner or when they emerge in our interactions with that partner. The ‘soul’ – or that part of ourselves which demands truth and balance – draws us to people or experiences that force us to face anomalies within the self. We cannot grow without first facing these anomalies, addressing them and then learning to better manage the self.

Draconic astrology opens up another portal that offers insight into these anomalies. Why, precisely, did I end up with this nightmare I call a wife, husband, lover or whatever?

My book Chasing the Dragons details how to use this system.

Draconic astrology is also called nodal astrology and its starting point is the Moon’s nodal axis. The South Node represents the past and the things familiar to us – such as certain default personality characteristics. The direction of fateful travel is towards the North Node opposite which represents the challenges that we face in this life or incarnation. So, draconic draws on symbolic associations with the Moon – in contrast to the tropical Sun-based chart. The Moon represents our past or past lives, reflexes, emotions, and so forth. In applying draconic, we seek the karmic or soul purpose of a life – or relationship. That’s it in a nutshell.

Below you will see the very basic rules for draconic. There is a lot more to the subject. The draconic (‘draco’) chart is created simply by moving the North Node of the Moon in the natal chart to 0° Aries. Then calculate the distance in degrees and minutes between the North Node’s natal position and 0° Aries before shifting the planets and points by the same distance. You have now created the draconic chart.

Brief guide to what draconic astrology is about

Draconic means ‘like a dragon’, a creature whose head (Caput Draconis – North Node – the Ascending Node) and tail (Cauda Draconis – South Node – Descending Node) figuratively block the Sun and Moon during eclipses.

In draco astrology, we are dealing with two planes (Sun and Moon orbits) that intersect, giving rise to the nodes. We are examining how the ‘past’ shapes our ‘present’ and ‘future’.

For the draconic chart, the tropical/natal North Node (NN) is moved to 0° Aries. This shifts attention to Moon themes. The tropical chart (solar) describes our behaviour, our mental processes, what we know or reason and given traits. The draconic chart identifies soul themes and purposes arising from past lives or simply the unknowable reaches of spirit.

Most software programs generate instant draconic charts. The manual formula to create the draconic chart: subtract the longitude of tropical North Node from the longitude of each tropical planet and point. In Queen Victoria’s chart for example – deduct 19° 44’. E.g. Her Sun at longitude 62° 07’ - 19° 44’ = 42° 23’: so her draconic Sun is now at 12° Taurus 23’.

Note well that only the signs and degrees alter. Planets remain in their tropically assigned houses. Therefore, aspects remain the same, though significant new aspects may be created between tropical and draconic charts. E.g. tropical Sun may now sit on draco MC.

These days, you can create a draconic chart quite quickly using computer software programs such as Solar Fire or astro.com. And for the draco ephemeris, seek out astro-seek.com or Morgan C. Benton’s The Draconic Ephemeris:1950-2050 At Noon.

The Wilde/Bosie draconic synastry

In this approach you start with the tropical (or sidereal) birth charts and draw up a synastry biwheel. This will indicate certain themes of soul purposes. You then convert these charts into their draconic versions and lay them out in a biwheel. If you wish you can then apply one party’s draconic chart to the other’s tropical and vice versa in order to discover that kind of purpose the one party has played in the life of the other – despite or because of the ‘nightmare’.

The whole approach is quite ‘layered’, each analysis throwing up evolving themes. This is not a fortune cookie exercise with glib one-liner answers but an attempt to understand a relationship which will have realities on different levels.

Below I have followed the above approach as a demonstration. I have put my observations in note form.

Wilde and Bosie tropical synastry

Wilde chart: This is largely mutable with a fair amount of fixed energy. And it is quite airy. This tells of a versatile, adaptable personality but which is ready to be resolute in some respects. The Wilde chart describes a person with communication skills.

Bosie chart: This has high cardinal energy – someone who is decisive and takes the lead, no matter what. Elementally, air is very high but with low water/earth – this tells of a personality who has the ability to communicate but lacks empathy and practicality. The lack of empathy was a constant in Bosie’s life even after Wilde’s death. He tended to put his own concerns before other considerations.

Tropical synastry

Key features: Wilde’s Black Moon Lilith (BML) is on Bosie’s Part of Fortune and Uranus. Bosie’s BML is conjunct Bosie’s Pluto, and both are conjunct Wilde’s North Node. These suggest hidden sexuality and rage themes. Black Moon Lilith is the symbol of our primitive, unguarded selves: if we do not address this part of ourselves, we cannot hope to understand and be ourselves. For Bosie, the association with Wilde opened up his world via unorthodoxy (in this instance, queer sex and conflict with Bosie’s father) and art (Wilde helped to develop Bosie as a poet). For Wilde, his destiny (North Node) was to face hidden, sexual realities in his psyche (Bosie’s Pluto) that would utterly transform Wilde. The conjunction of Bosie’s Pluto and BML is highly explosive and uncompromising in its effects on Wilde. Additionally, Wilde’s BML in Cancer has a nurturing theme. Not only did Wilde inspire Bosie, but also paid his bills.

Other major intra-aspects. The two Suns are conjunct; Wilde’s Sun is conjunct Bosie’s Venus; Wilde’s Venus is conjunct Bosie’s Moon, Mercury, Venus; Bosie’s Moon is conjunct Wilde Venus. All these are further evidence of an intense attraction between them, not just sexual, but mental and emotional.

The two men’s Mars are in a square to each other; Wilde’s Jupiter is square to Bosie’s Sun, Mercury, Venus – which indicate excess and indiscretion. The two Saturns are in opposition. These give rise to themes of fractiousness and lack of proportion between the two men. Wilde indulged Bosie at expensive hotels and restaurants with little regard for public appearance or opinion or his own finances. He neglected his family for Bosie. Bosie was wildly indiscreet and arrogant, and introduced Wilde to gay brothels whose ‘rent boys’ (male prostitutes) eventually would testify against Wilde at his doomed defamation suit against Bosie’s father, and at the two trials of Wilde.

Wilde and Bosie draconic synastry

Main aspects: the two Moons are conjunct in Gemini: this tells of a meeting of hearts and minds; Bosie’s disruptive Uranus is on Wilde’s MC/Saturn opposite Bosie’s Libra Mars. There is a ‘soul connection’, a meeting of minds.

Bosie’s Pluto/BML are taken to the synastry chart’s 7th house (zone of relationship). And Wilde’s Pluto is in Pisces opposite Bosie’s Saturn in Virgo. These aspects throw up major power themes between the two men. In reality they argued constantly, with Bosie always demanding attention while Wilde attempted to moderate his young lover.

Draconically, Bosie opened up a new sexual world to Wilde (Uranus in Aries on MC) but faced opposition from Mars conjunct Wilde’s IC (the family or root point. Note also: Bosie’s Mars is conjunct his IC in the synastry chart’s 10th house. Both their families actively fought to end the bond. Lord Queensberry (Bosie’s father) ultimately brought Wilde down while Wilde’s wife Constance cut off funds to him in the hope of ending the relationship between the two men.

Other aspects: Bosie’s Jupiter on Wilde’s Pluto in Pisces has an inspirational theme, but Pisces can be self-martyring. The relationship deepened Wilde’s Christian faith but only through loss of freedom when he was imprisoned for gross indecency. Later in life, Bosie, too, embraced the Christian faith and played down his homosexual past.

Wilde’s draco chart is a lot more cardinal than his tropical birth chart. It may be interpreted as a soul purpose to fully embrace his actual nature and give full expression of his genius (which used paradox to great effect in his plays). Bosie’s draconic chart is a lot more watery than the tropical birth chart – in other words, part of his soul challenge was to develop empathy and sensitivity. Whether he succeeded is debatable. But his later religiosity may have been an attempt to address faults in his nature.

In the draconic synastry chart, I think there’s a strong spiritual component involved. To each other they confronted the realities of sexuality and uninhibited talent: both became more ‘open’ in their natures through intimacy. Each unlocked a door in the life of the other. But in so doing they incurred public and familial wrath.

Wilde’s draconic soul purpose in the tropical life of Bosie:

In this chart, we see that Wilde brought structure to Bosie’s creativity (Wilde’s Saturn is conjunct Bosie’s Neptune in Aries). To enable a fruition of talent in Bosie, it was necessary that he confront his bullying father, and Wilde caused this to happen. But also, Wilde became a ‘father figure’ of sorts to Bosie.

Wilde brought an emotional reality to Bosie’s artificial and vacuous aristocratic world (Wilde’s Moon is conjunct Bosie’s Jupiter in Gemini). Bosie’s Saturn in Sagittarius opposite Wilde’s Moon indicates the need for limits to be recognised but also the opposition of a ‘father’.

Wilde activated a break between Bosie and his family (Wilde’s Ascendant is conjunct Bosie’s Uranus in Cancer in the 1st house).

Wilde challenged Bosie and his ingrained weaknesses – this is symbolised by Wilde’s Mars conjunct Bosie’s Mercury, Venus, Moon in Libra in the 4th house.

Note well that the two Suns are exactly sextile in the unfortunate 29th (anaretic) degree, a fated but problematic bond. Wilde’s North Node takes in Bosie’s Chiron opposite Bosie’s Moon. This is another indicator of departure from family or restriction. Wilde compelled or inclined Bosie to rebel against his family and authority – or at least triggered a furious rebellion in the young man.

Bosie’s draconic soul purpose in the tropical life of Wilde

The main purpose was to activate Wilde’s independence or actual nature (Bosie’s Mars is conjunct Wilde’s Uranus in the 8th) through conflict (Bosie’s Mars is opposite Wilde’s Scorpio Mercury exactly). Note also that Bosie’s Uranus is opposite Wilde’s Sun and Venus in Libra.

Another one of Bosie’s soul purposes in this relationship was to bring to the surface hidden, probably sexual themes in Wilde’s psyche (Bosie’s Sun is conjunct Wilde’s BML).

Also, Bosie’s Ascendant/Jupiter is on the synastry Descendant in Pisces opposite Bosie’s Saturn, taking in Wilde’s Neptune in Pisces. The bond inspired the imagination but faced limits from the outer world.

Overall message: struggle and pain seem to be the key to the enlargement of Wilde’s spirit. But the risks are there to see if limits are not respected.

Notes and birth data:
In draconic I look for the ‘headline news’ by focusing just on the major Ptolemaic aspects, conjunctions especially. Check out your own draconic natal chart.
 Oscar Wilde: 16 October 1854, 3:00 am, Dublin, Ireland; Source: Astrodatabank
 Lord Alfred Douglas: 22 October 1870, 7:42 pm, Worcester, UK; Source: Astrodatabank

Published in: Timelords Magazine, Nov. 2022.

Author:
Victor Olliver (Agent 57) is editor of the Astrological Association’s bimonthly magazine The Astrological Journal. He is based in the UK. He also has another book out, Astrology: Secrets of the Signs and Planets (Flame Tree). Website: victorolliver.co.uk

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