Let’s take an in-depth look at Mick Jagger’s Horoscope – what makes him really tick? In Philip Norman’s excellent Jagger biography, the author cites decades of adulation as a rock god to account for what he called Eternal Teenager syndrome, which entails inhabiting a parallel universe where human mortality itself can be be bypassed.
‘The question was to be raised many times over … how could someone otherwise so intelligent fastidious and careful of his public image continually cheat on his wife so recklessly and publicly? … The answer was Eternal Teenager syndrome.’1
Mick is well aware of his status as a Legend, and what it is to be a footloose, globe-trotting rock star with its earthly, heedless pleasures. Isn’t it, perhaps, wiser – as he asked in the song ‘100 Years Ago’2 – not to grow up? Certainly, normal things like ageing, becoming a grandfather and acquiring wrinkles are an inconvenience to be overcome.
Keith Richards himself has remarked on Mick’s Peter Pan qualities, not least in his pursuit of women sometimes half his age. At the time of Mick’s split with long time partner Jerry Hall, Keith remarked that: ‘if they split up it will be a real shame … Kicking fifty, it’s a bit much.’ After 1992, they did split up and Mick went on to father yet more children. But isn’t this just typical rock star behaviour? And is there anything on Mick Jagger’s Horoscope that suggests this eternal pursuit of youth? There is, actually.
Mick Jagger’s Horoscope – born July 26, 1943 (at 2.30)
Michael Philip Jagger was born on July 26, 1943 (at 2.30) in London, another product of the war time ‘baby boom’ in the UK. This gives him sun in showy Leo, moon in stable Taurus and Gemini rising. With respect to the eternal youth theme (the puer aeternus), it is this latter which commands our attention: aren’t Gemini types known to be forever ‘youthful’? It can be said that the human ageing process is not one adopted lightly by such people!
This archetype (well known to psychologists and mythographers) manifests in so-called ‘Peter Pan Syndrome’, where individuals cannot ‘commit themselves or to keep promises’ and display ‘excessive care about the way they look’ and who are ‘constantly changing partners and looking for younger ones.’ (Wikipedia) When it comes to Mick Jagger’s Horoscope, we’ll soon see how apt some of these descriptions are.
Of course, there are all the other qualities associated with Gemini rising: Mick’s sense of humour and playfulness, and the inquisitive, even dilettante, aspects to his character. There’s also his evasiveness when being interviewed by the media. This is partly the desire to maintain privacy, but he also comes across like the slippery modern politician who avoids giving a straight answer. This is – essentially – a Geminian dislike of being pinned down to a particular point of view (after all, he may have changed opinions since last time) and we’ve seen this in other rock stars with strong Gemini, notably Ray Davies, Prince and Bob Dylan. But even at school, it’s said Mick was a kind of ‘India rubber’ character, able to bend whichever way and charm his way out of trouble. (Very Gemini.)
That need to shield his privacy from outsiders (not always successfully of course) is also determined by the stellium of sun, Jupiter, Pluto and Mercury close to the I.C., symbolising roots, home and one’s innermost private life. The I.C. (the fourth house cusp) is also our experience of the Father, and Mick was always very close to his, indeed, was brought up to respect the late Basil Fanshawe Jagger; or Joe, for short. Mick also has Saturn (one’s experience of rules and authority) in the first house close to the ascendant. Not surprisingly, Joe was a (not overly severe) disciplinarian, and the young Jagger would be expected to perform household tasks and chores as matter of course (with much tougher ones if he misbehaved). In fact, Joe was a physical fitness teacher – a more than apt Saturnian archetype.
The first house Saturn on Mick Jagger’s Horoscope also has much to say about his well noted self control – never reckless, indulgent or sybaritic like Keith, he would moderate his drug and drink intake very carefully. In brief, Saturn (widely) conjunct the Gemini ascendant, presents an uncompromising Father archetype that influences Jagger’s more grounded, conventional side. Though he once called his parents ‘bourgeois’, this planet has come to symbolise values of self reliance, and appreciating the rewards of diligence and hard work. This is why Jagger was always wary of defying authority figures (unlike Keith). This is again suggested by the stellium on the I.C. – Pluto is involved here, a planet where we encounter powers greater than ourselves.
As for Mick’s sun in Leo, Philip Norman once criticised him for being somewhat a snob, and it’s true there’s always been a social climbing element to Mr. Jagger (something Keith has also noticed). But this interest in the jet-set and friendships with minor royalty like Princess Margaret (whilst not very rock and roll) is also his Leo side manifesting. Leo celebrities naturally want to being seen and photographed with the right people: he must perforce retain that star quality and impress others on the world stage. The Leo ‘me first’ principle – that element of taking oneself for granted – is also there.
Mick Jagger’s Horoscope also shows two planets in steadfast Taurus, the moon and Mars, which instill common sense practicality into him. There’s also the typical Taurean possessiveness here; he could be possessive – even – with Keith, besides the women in his life. (Mick is also known for his earth-sign caution with money, something untypical of many sixties Rock stars, save Ray Davies and Paul McCartney. And so Mick is essentially the careful, business-brain of the Stones.) The moon also gives a clue to his ideal woman, the Jungian anima, which has this earthy side to it.
Mick’s first wife Bianca (whom he married in 1971) is a sun Taurus (with a Capricorn moon) and the synastry shows his Mars close to her sun. This is a typical aspect of clashing egos and individuals pursuing their own separate interests, which is why they parted for good, in 1978. (In fact, they weren’t together much at all during their marriage.) Mick also has Venus in Virgo, not what you’d call a romantic, or emotional placing. Jagger has stated that he isn’t an emotional person, and for once he’s not misrepresenting himself. Venus here may give the impression of being uninterested in sex, but it can be as sexual any other Venus sign. What differentiates Venus in Virgo is the absence of any deeper feeling. For them, sex may represent a mere bodily transaction, tied more into notions of physical exercise and health, than love and profound passion.
This emotional ‘dryness’ on Mick Jagger’s Horoscope – where realism and practical concerns are accentuated instead – is enhanced by the Venus square to both Saturn and Uranus. This creates tension in emotional relationships – feeling uncomfortable if anyone gets too close. Back in the mid sixties, someone did get too close: the beautiful and cultured singer/actress Marianne Faithfull. Following a tempestuous relationship with Chrissie Shrimpton, Mick started living with Marianne (a sun Capricorn) in early 1967.
I believe (and research bears it out) that Marianne was the only woman he’s ever truly broken his heart over, not that we’re ever likely to hear this from Mick. (He was devastated when they split, in a way not seen since.) Interestingly, the Composite chart has Venus conjunct the Vertex, a symbol of the ‘fated’ relationship. It wasn’t all perfect, of course: Marianne said the worst thing about living with Mick was his rule that one must never show emotion, and she’d bottle up all her feelings until she burst into tears. This is what Philip Norman calls the ‘tyranny of cool’, though even Mick would break down emotionally if it meant he could get his own way! (Donald Cammell, the director of Performance, once noted that it was something Mick could do to great theatrical effect!)
The synastry also has Marianne’s moon square to Mick’s ascendant and opposite his Venus (plus Mick’s moon is opposite Marianne’s Jupiter). This shows how much the relationship was based on instinctual emotional ties and the need for security (the moon). However, the Composite Davison chart has a stellium of sun, Moon, Mercury and Venus in the 12th house. Robert Hand writes in connection with hidden feelings, secrecy and being unaware of repressed emotions (moon in the 12th is also on Mick’s natal chart). They both kept the affair quiet at first, but even when they were a public item, Marianne always felt British society disapproved of her living ‘in sin’ with a rock star (she was married at the time, with a young son). The Archbishop of Canterbury even offered intercessionary prayers on her behalf!
And so their relationship faced outside obstacles from the start, but the main challenge for both partners with these Composite twelfth house planets is to be completely honest with each other. Sadly, this isn’t what happened (both of them having secret affairs) and without the required honesty and openness, the relationship became self defeating. The affair was, in a sense, doomed – the twelfth house is traditionally the house of ‘self undoing’. In the end, Marianne even attempted suicide in 1969 – thankfully it was unsuccessful.
Towards the end of Mick’s mostly unhappy marriage to Bianca in the next decade, he met Texan model Jerry Hall (a sun Cancerian) in 1977 (unfortunately we don’t have birth times for Bianca or Jerry). Seemingly, in the eighties, Mick had found a stable and durable relationship – the only problem was that Hall also had her eye on matrimony. Unfortunately Mick never wanted another marriage, indeed, he described it as ‘legalistic contractual claptrap’ (which should have sounded an alarm bell for Jerry). Nevertheless – they were apparently wed in Bali on November 21, 1990, in a Hindu ceremony (!). However, the wedding had no legal validity.
The main astrological challenges to deal with were Jerry’s Saturn opposite Mick’s moon and her Venus conjunct to his Saturn. I have encountered the first of these contacts many times in Synastries of long lasting relationships, where the Saturn partner gives some much needed grounding to the moon partner (as with Patti Hansen and Keith Richards). But it can go another way – where the Saturn partner is seen as an obstacle to be overcome by the moon partner. With these contacts, they get in the way of each other and as we know, Mick’s and Jerry’s differences were never successfully overcome (though it wasn’t for lack of trying on Jerry’s part).
Whilst Mick Jagger’s Horoscope has a strong Saturn (his hard working, self-controlling side) look again at Uranus. Saturn makes a wide conjunction with the ascendant, but Uranus is even closer – on the 12th house side – and in a powerful ‘Gauquelin sector’, too. (Uranus is thus, arguably, stronger than Saturn here.) This is the key to Mick – Uranian personal freedom always wins out, especially when others try to make him conform to convention. (Like getting married.) But the dynamic created by these two powerful planets affected his time with Hall – one with a strong sense of responsibility and tradition (Saturn); the other with an eye on the future and living free from interference, like a true libertarian (Uranus). How did this work?
Jerry noted that when they were together, he was very supportive of her work and a good father for the kids, but … not much of a husband! Following their parting, he continued to stay in regular touch – even going to her performances as Mrs Robinson in the stage version of The Graduate. In fact, they got on even better than before, as noted by Ronnie Wood’s wife, Jo. He was, of course, still free to roam elsewhere. At the same time, the old-fashioned side of Mick still wanted to do the Saturnian things, and enjoyed being a part time Father, even presiding over family meals in the home he could have been sharing with Jerry. Just so long as the back door was left open … This is how he expressed that Saturn-Uranus dichotomy.
More recently, and following the tragic suicide of partner L’Wren Scott in 2014 (whom he started dating in 2001) Peter Pan syndrome manifested again in 2016 when Mick became a father for the eighth time. One wonders if he ever considers ‘settling down’ at all, and what that might even mean to him. Of course, he’s earned his freedom many times over, what with his considerable influence and legacy – all of those superb Stones songs, for one, are a benchmark in the history of rock and roll.
But perhaps his proudest ever moment was the knighthood he earned in December 12, 2003, not so much for himself but for what it meant to his father, Joe. An old bandmate from way back, Dick Taylor (a prototype Stone in 1962) once noted that Mick desired ‘more than anything to please his father’. Remember how strongly Saturnian Mick Jagger really is – on this day in December (before Joe sadly died in 2006) he got to please his father in a way that, at one time, neither of them could have believed possible. So much for the rock and roll rebel!
1. Norman, Philip, Mick Jagger, Harper Collins, 2012
2. From the 1973 album Goats Head Soup
Image source (PD): Nationaal Archief (Author: Bert Verhoeff / Anefo)
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