Bowie's 66th birthday is today – maybe a good moment to recall those times in Berlin (1976-1979) when he produced some of his most extraordinary work, killed the demon of his drug addiction, and ended his first marriage.
That was quite a Saturn Return then.
And it's a time to wonder at how we become who we become with the experiences, memories, feelings of all our previous selves layered upon each other.
He's past his second Saturn Return now, during which he went under the knife for heart surgery. Then he stopped making music for some years as Saturn went through his seventh and eighth houses. This can often be a time of retreat.
Today, Saturn is in the opening square of the new cycle. It's exactly aspecting its own natal position and sitting at the top of his chart. It's just past a conjunction with Chiron. I wonder if this album is a way for him to heal those difficult, intensely creative years in the 1970s.
The creator of Space Oddity is clearly an "Outer Planet" person. His career has been all about transformation (Pluto) and strangeness (Uranus). Both these planets are activating his chart now. Pluto is conjuncting his Mercury – and has been for quite a while. And Uranus is creating an exciting and lovely Grand Trine with his natal Moon-Venus trine in the fire signs. I expect he's been on fire with inspiration. Finally, Neptune (music) is squaring Venus and quincunx the Moon. I can't wait to hear the rest of the album.
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