Richard Branson’s horoscope

Sir Richard Branson had a bicycle accident last week. Thankfully he’s fine. Well, apart from some minor injuries. The news item about his accident prompted my curiosity. I wanted to look at Richard Branson’s horoscope to understand the (astrological) constitution of this charismatic billionaire.

His birth data is rated ‘A’, by astrodatabank.com. This is not as precise as ‘AA’ (data from the birth certificate). But is nevertheless considered reasonably accurate. Branson was born July 18th, 1950, at 7:00am in Blackheath, England.

Pluto prominent

The first thing I notice about his horoscope is Pluto. Pluto is angular in the 1st house, close to his 14° Leo Ascendant (red oval, above). This is reminiscent of Donald Trump, who has Mars close to his Ascendant.

Any planet close to a person’s Ascendant means that particular planetary energy will be up-front and visible. For Trump, it is the fiery assertiveness of Mars.

For Sir Richard, Pluto in this position indicates someone with a powerful presence, because Pluto is the planet of power and transformation.

And what kind of power? Well, his Ascendant is in Leo, so it’s a powerful ego and sense of self. This is how Branson comes across, how he appears to the world. At least in public.

So Branson appears to be a larger-than-life ‘solar’ sort of person. Someone seemingly at the centre of his own universe in a powerful (Pluto-ish) way — a ‘mover and a shaker.’

But …

But the ruler of his Leo Ascendant is the Sun. And where’s his Sun? Yep, tucked away in Cancer, in the 12th house. So we actually have a quiet and private (12th house) sensitive (Cancer) person. Somewhat at odds to the personality he shows to the public when he’s in the spotlight (Pluto, Ascendant).

Pluto to Mars-Neptune

Branson’s Pluto aspects his Mars and Neptune conjunction (green oval) by a sextile aspect (about 60°). This connection is shown by the blue arrows, above.

The Mars-Neptune conjunction could play out in several ways. It might be a strong connection (conjunction) between ‘action’ (Mars) and ideals (Neptune).

And/or someone whose actions (Mars) are tightly influenced by a grand vision or fantasy (Neptune). In some people it can even manifest as paralysis or vagueness (Neptune) of intent (Mars).

It’s noticeable that in Branson’s horoscope the Mars-Neptune conjunction is in the 3rd house, a cadent house. Cadent houses are quiet. So this vision and drive are in the background.

For Branson, the sextile from Pluto enlivens the Mars-Neptune conjunction, adding power and force. This amplifies his visionary drive.

But let’s not forget the aspect is a sextile. This is one of the ‘soft aspects’ (sextile and trine). Soft aspect planetary energies are not always active. They can be dormant, switch on and off.

On the other hand, with ‘hard’ aspects (conjunction, square or opposition) the energy would be permanent. The energies involved would be ‘always on.’

(BTW, I’ve covered astrology aspects in a previous post.)

Jupiter-Uranus trine

There’s another major soft aspect in Richard Branson’s horoscope. It’s the trine (about 120°) between Jupiter (wealth, expansiveness) and Uranus (eccentricity, changeability). It’s shown by the red arrows, above.

Jupiter is in Pisces, the sign Jupiter rules. And Jupiter is in the 8th house, the house of (among other things) ‘other people’s money’.

The trine to Uranus shows wealth (Jupiter) is shaped by occasional (soft aspect) eccentricity and changes of direction (Uranus). It also indicates wealth will sometimes come from unique and different non-traditional (Uranus) sources of income (Jupiter).

Jupiter rules his 5th, 8th and 9th houses. This connects his wealth to creativity and fun (5th), other people’s money (8th), travel and higher learning (9th). This seems consistent with what we know about Branson’s public life.

The bicycle accident

Branson’s Sun on the day of the accident is being aspected by a number of planets. Here’s Branson’s horoscope (inner) with the outer planets set for noon in the British Virgin Islands on August 26th.

First we have transiting Uranus, aspecting is Sun by square (about 90°), shown by the blue arrows. Transiting Uranus is known for disruption and upsets.

Other transits are Neptune in sesquiquadrate (about 135°) aspect to his Sun (green arrows). And Mars and Saturn also sesquiquadrate to his Sun (red and yellow arrows).

The above information can also be shown in a different way. A graphic ephemeris is a way to see the planetary movements visually. Most astrology software will have a graphic ephemeris feature.

So here’s how Sir Richard’s transits look for the whole of 2016. I’ve put a blue arrow indicating the end of August. The large ‘S’ is for Solar Eclipse. And the ‘L’s are lunar eclipses. Click the image to see a larger version.

 

The straight lines related to planets on the right – their natal positions in the birth horoscope. The wavy lines are the moving planets, the transits, and relate to planets on the left. Astrologers are particularly interested at points where the wavy lines cross the straight lines. These are where the various transiting aspects become ‘exact’. And exact (or just before) is the strongest point of a transit, the most likely time to notice that transit’s effect.

A transit’s effect is often denoted by a particular event, or series of events, in our lives.

Not all the transiting planets are shown. I have left out Sun, Mercury, Moon and Venus. This is because they move fast, and their transits are rather temporary compared to the other planets. I’ve put Mars in there simply because it is associated with accidents. And it connects with Sir Richard’s Sun around the time of his bicycle accident.

So you can see that a number of transits intersect at the end of August for Branson. This creates a ‘climate’ where certain events are ‘likely’ to occur.

Secondary progressed Moon

Also at the end of August, Branson’s secondary progressed Moon is opposite his Ascendant degree. Here’s the graphic ephemeris showing that event, again with a blue arrow pointing to late August:

Secondary progressed Moon indicates an timing of an ’emotional’ event. Here it’s conjuncting Branson’s 7th house cusp (other people, relationships), and opposes his Ascendant (self). In his horoscope, the Moon rules Branson’s Cancer 12th house. This is the house of ‘self-undoing.’ In other words, mistakes we make through our own actions.

His Sun, ruler of his Ascendant, is also in the 12th. And it is his Sun which is being hit by the various transits mentioned above.

Richard Branson’s horoscope: summary

His easy-going charisma is best shown by the soft aspects in his horoscope. These are aspects associated with ‘ease’. Someone in his position who has prominent hard aspects would be more forceful and abrasive.

Branson is nevertheless a powerhouse personality (Leo Ascendant, Pluto in the 1st house) that is very good at promoting the Sir Richard Branson brand. Out of the public spotlight, he’s more likely to be reserved and private (Sun in 12th, in Cancer).

Yet he also has an easygoing sextile from Pluto (and the Ascendant) to his Mars-Neptune conjunction in the 3rd house. This connects his personality and ego with action (Mars) closely aligned with his vision or ideals (Neptune).

The bicycle accident is a typical event that might occur given the transits occurring for Branson in late August 2016.

The solar eclipse at 9° Virgo in early September will aspect his Sun. But the aspect is very minor, a semi-square (about 45°), although it looks prominently placed in the graphic ephemeris, above.

Part of the challenge in astrology is to decipher all the data the software presents. Some of it is trivial. Other parts are significant.