Charles Manson’s horoscope

I’ve just finished reading a brilliant biography. It’s about notorious cult leader Charles Manson. The book is Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson by Jeff Guinn (Amazon link). It’s the first of many biographies I plan to read. This is because next year I want to write a book. A book about the horoscopes of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ people, and what astrology reveals about them.

According to Astrodatabank.com, Manson was born on 12 November 1934 at 4:40pm in Cincinnati, Ohio. This is accurate birth data, from his birth certificate.

Manson had a troubled childhood. His mother, Kathleen, was 15 when he was born. Five years later, she served three years in prison for being part of a robbery. He never knew his father. Growing up, Manson proved a difficult and antagonistic child, and was sent to a series of reform schools and eventually prison. He could be charming, yet incredibly selfish. But he believed he had a gift.

By the mid 1960s he landed in San Francisco, in the heart of the hippie movement. Drawing on his prison experiences and the book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, he fashioned himself as a guru of love and peace.

His charm and intensity meant he was able to manipulate the vulnerable to join his cause. He actually wasn’t interested in love and peace, it was just a means to an end. His motivation was to gather followers and contacts that would enable him to become a famous musician. Despite his lack of talent, he relentlessly believed it was his destiny to become a superstar.

Despite outward appearances, inwardly was a very selfish person. Someone who preyed on the vulnerable, and brainwashed them to believe his every word. And obey his every command. No matter what. After a few years, he had a ‘family’ of followers around him. And on August 9th, 1969 he ordered members of his family to commit appalling murders. Historically, these are the Tate Murders of August 1969.

What can we say about Charles Manson’s horoscope, in light of what I’ve read in Jeff Guinn’s biography?

There are several key signatures in his horoscope.

Firstly, he has a Sun-Venus conjunction in Scorpio (red oval, above). This gives an intense (Scorpio) ego and will (Sun) combined with an artistic or charismatic (Venus) disposition. Venus can bring charm, apparent sweetness. And Venus is also the ruler of Manson’s Taurus Ascendant (or ‘rising sign’). And his Sun-Venus conjunction is in the 7th house – the house of other people, relationships. So this charisma and ego will play-out via relationships with others.

Underpinning this Sun-Venus is its square aspect (about 90) to Saturn in Aquarius (blue arrows). Positively, Saturn brings structure and discipline to the Sun-Venus. Negatively, it can be an undercurrent of harshness. To his ‘family’ of followers, he could be equally charming and a disciplinarian. He wanted absolute obedience. His word was law.

The most powerful signature in Manson’s horoscope is the Mars-Neptune conjunction in Virgo (green oval). Actions (Mars) driven by idealism, illusion, deception (Neptune). Mars is the ruler of his 7th house, and of his four planets in Scorpio (Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Sun). In Manson’s context, he deludes (Neptune) other people (Mars, ruler of 7th). It could also be said that he is motivated (Mars) by deception. Perhaps deception of himself and others.

Finally, in Charles Manson’s horoscope there is a conjunction between Mercury and Jupiter in Scorpio (blue oval). This straddles the 7th house cusp. Mercury is communication, but also the planet of the trickster. Combined with expansive Jupiter, it gives Manson the capacity and ‘talent’ to expound his ‘big ideas’ to other people. With considerable emotional intensity (Scorpio). This emotional component is emphasised by the Moon being in square aspect to this Mercury-Jupiter (red arrows). This gives a direct connection between his emotional life, his security needs, and this ability to communicate ‘big ideas’ to others.

And since the Moon rules his 4th house (of family), we could say that a motivation for his engagement with others was to create or connect with a ‘family’ of some sort. Perhaps a family life he never really had as a child.

The Tate Murders

Below is Manson’s horoscope (inner wheel). Plus Solar Arc Directions (middle wheel) and transits (outer) for August 9th, 1969. This is the date of the Tate Murders.

Here we see the Solar Arc Directed (SAD) Mars-Neptune connecting to his natal Midheaven (or M.C., the 10th house cusp). The M.C. is often signified as the part of our horoscope associated with ‘career’, but it’s more than that. It’s also about our reputation, honour or status. For Manson, this is a period of his life when he believed he had achieved something ‘great’, however deluded that might appear.

According to Guinn, the motive for ordering the murders was twofold. First, to start a race war by leaving clues that black people committed the murder. The race war was part of Manson’s ideology. When the war started, he and his followers would retreat to a hidden underworld in the desert. And one day emerge from that world as part of a new ruling elite. Secondly, it was to provide a form of alibi for a Manson follower in police custody for an earlier murder. If another murder was committed – seemingly by the same killer – then the follower in custody would be released.

The race war (part of what Manson called ‘Helter Skelter’, after the Beatles song) didn’t happened. And the follower was not freed. Instead, after several other murders, Manson and his family fled. They were eventually caught and stood trial. Their death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment, after a California law change.

Charles Manson’s horoscope: summary

A psychological interpretation is that Manson was a narcissistic sociopath. Someone lacking in empathy. His only interest in other people was if they were of ‘use’ to him. He needed others to support his ego, to finance his family, and to provide support and contacts for his journey to musical stardom. A journey that never happened. Manson could be charming and effusive, and knew how to ‘win’ people. Well, at least some people.

Charles Manson’s horoscope is of someone who can be intensely charming (Sun-Venus), yet a disciplinarian (Sun-Venus square to Saturn). Someone motivated (Mars) by delusion (Neptune), of himself and others. And someone who peddled (Mercury) his delusion by a broad ideology which he made larger-than-life (Mercury-Jupiter).

Update: November 19th, 2017

Manson has died, aged of 83. Despite being in prison for many years, he remains an iconic cultural figure.

Unsurprisingly, there is an astrological correlation to his passing, shown below. Solar Arc Directed (SAD) Pluto aspecting his Midheaven (aka his ‘M.C.’). Pluto is power, energy. The Midheaven is about reputation, career, public standing.

So this shows that for this time in his life, Manson’s departure elevates (at least for a few days) his sordid reputation and the public memory of the horrific crimes he orchestrated.