Andrew Breitbart, a case of a missing Saturn
By Eugene Johnson
I, not being “a political blogger junkie”, only recently heard of the existence Andrew Breitbart. His name came to my attention when the news story broke about the government employee, Shirley Sherrod, who lost her job as a result of a doctored video recording of her that was released by him. Mr. Breitbart was the “journalist” who had also previously published reports that contributed to the resignation Representative Weiner and the blackballing of Acorn.
I would not have taken the time to even look at Mr. Breitbart’s chart except a friend bought it up. I have not gone to the trouble to research his birth time, so I set up a sunrise chart for Los Angeles where he was born, February 1, 1969. Unless he was born three or four hours after midnight he has the moon in Leo; which seems to fit his personality perfectly, especially in his proclivity to be an arrogant blowhard. His sun at 12 Aquarius makes him a full moon birth, and by a bit of translation-of-light, Mars gets picked-up in this light as the focal planet of a T-Cross. Mars is in Scorpio, approaching Neptune, so we see here his love of digging up dirt, giving it a “creative twist” to suit his ideological mind-set, and then zealously broadcasting it.
Perhaps the more intriguing feature of his chart is his Saturn, 20 Aries, that dangles in the wheel with no major aspects. It does, however, form a quincunx, rather closely, with Mars, which tends to corroborate his alacrity for attacking authority figures. The quincunx can be the most difficult aspect in the chart because the signs it connects do not have any common factors ( by triplicity, quadrature or polarity). So, the planets that are unfortunate enough to be involved in a quincunx tend to be sort of like “two ships passing in the night”. These vessels may want urgently to find each other but are incapable of doing so. Mr. Breitbart perhaps felt in his life experience the persistent challenge of effectively structuring and disciplining his energy (Competitive frustration, fights blockages, angry over repression, etc.)
Saturn in Aries is not a desirable place for the ‘old man’ to be, either. Saturn is the archetype of good order and structure, Aries is the antithesis of these. Here we see shades of the quincunx. Saturn inhibits the natural drive for freedom from restraint of Aries, while the wild energy of Aries disturbs Saturn’s attempts to establish stability and order. As a result there is the probability of fear and insecurity, misdirected energy and very bad timing. This can be the signature of either the bully or the wimp. Bullying behavior arises from an attempt to compensate for feelings of fear and insecurity.
Unaspected planets, logically, would seem to be a non-factor in the natal horoscope because it through the interpretation of the various aspectual connections of the planets that a major part of the astrological portrait is constructed. But, in reality the unaspected planet often plays a dominate role in the personality, in fact it seem to “run away” with the native. Perhaps this is because it is not “restrained” by the normal constraints that naturally occur in relation with the other planets.
In her book The Yod Book, Karen Hamaker-Zondag writes, “that the unaspected planet will elicit a feeling of “searching” and an inexplicable uneasiness, which is, however, inherent in it. This searching also involves feelings of insecurity”. So, a person with a unaspected Saturn will not have the benefit of a “built in” Saturn function. He or she will have to figure out a way to “make one”, and this process of making might take a long time, or never be done, the later seems to have been the fate of Mr. Breitbart. But, probably when the archetype of the unaspected planet is successfully “self-created” it is a marvelous thing, unique and self-actuating.
It is interesting to note that Mr. Breitbart was an adopted child and I suppose he never knew his father (Saturn).
He died suddenly just after midnight, March 1. At that time transiting Uranus was at 3 Aries within a few minutes of an exact opposition to natal Uranus. The natal North Node is 1 Aries (so, natal Uranus is conjunct the South Nodes). Transiting Mercury, 28 Pisces, also plays a role, as does transiting Venus, 25 Aries. Transiting Saturn, 29 Libra, is in the 8th solar house and opposes natal Saturn. As is frequently the case the moon’s nodes are often activated at time of death.
