This week's edition of Shrink Rap featured Salman Rushdie in conversation with Pamela Connolly. As with the Joan Rivers programme, I think that Pamela slightly missed the mark in the things she emphasised. Salman is another of the many Sun-in-Gemini guests Pamela's interviewing for this series; interesting that. Anyway, without further ado or adon't, here's Salman's birthchart:
Not sure of the accuracy of the birthtime, so house cusps need to be treated with caution, and the Moon's exact position too.
If the birthtime is even approximately correct, Salman's got both the Sun and Moon in Gemini, conjunct each other. He's also got Venus in Gemini, and the outer planet Uranus too. The Sun-Moon conjunction is also conjunct Uranus. This quickly paints the picture of someone who is 'in his head', who will almost certainly reject the value of emotional feelings, and the value of the body's sensations. During the conversation this was evident, although not discussed, unfortunately. It is, in fact, possibly the most important theme of the chart: overemphasis on thought and knowledge and data and communication, dismissal of and discomfort with feelings and the life of the body as a physical organism.
Salman talked about his distance - both emotionally and physically - from his parents. This remoteness is shown in the chart by the conjunct of the parental significators, i.e. the Sun and the Moon, conjunct Uranus and in an Air Sign. Salman said that his primary caretaker was not his mother but his nanny, and when his parents offered him the chance to go away to the UK to study he jumped at the chance, and didn't really write many letters to his parents. Salman said he often wondered why he'd jumped at the chance, but it's not difficult to detach from people who you've never really bonded with and who, in fact, you feel not only an outsider in relation to, but also superior to (something that either wasn't broadcast, or Pamela missed or chose not to comment on).
Pamela focused on perfectionism and sense of not being good enough and loved enough, thanking Salman when he spoke her words for her in the form of 'be perfect, or dead'. Speaking astrologically, Salman's psyche is not one that revolves around perfectionism at all. Salman is instead the archetypal herald and factotum of the Gods, telling other people's stories for them - he said this was the highest compliment someone could give a writer - speaking their words, writing their thoughts - just as he did with Pamela which led to her thanking him, although I'm not sure if she realised at the time what was going on. He had picked up on her thoughts, the direction of her words, the story she was trying to tell, and neatly summarised it for her. She, meanwhile, seemed to think she'd finally broken thought to his his child-self's conclusions formed by his relationships with his parents. I thought it was his Geminian impish side coming out, acting as the mediator and translator of other people's ideas, with an element of trickery so as to always evade capture, just as Hermes/Mercury (the planet that rules Gemini is named after this God) did in the myths. In short, he was using words to play a tune pleasing to the listener, whilst giving away nothing deeper - Gemini remains on the surface but can simulate depth when required, its skill is in mimicry and sometimes it can all add up to double-dealing.
Throughout the interview Salman acted as if he was intellectually superior to her in terms of figuring himself out, and figuring out human nature. He more or less came clean about this later in the interview when Pamela asked him about his previous experience of psychotherapy, and he explained that he held one of his former psychotherapists in contempt, calling it 'writer's arrogance' - which is to perfectly encapsulate his Geminian planets - because a writer's job is to reflect on their life and so what could a psychotherapist possibly tell him that he doesn't already know', and that he thought there was no difference between thought and emotion, they both exist 'in the brain'. Typical comments for someone so 'heady' and whose ego (in both senses of the word) pivots on the articulation of pure thought, yet who must use fictional stories to appeal to people's emotional sensibilities in order to capture people's attention: Mercury in Cancer, possibly on the IC at the foundation of the chart.
There is a lot that could be written about the upset his writings caused. The impish, provocative nature of the Sun, Moon, Venus, and Uranus cluster in Gemini has already been mentioned. As Pamela and Salman discussed, he won't compromise his speaking the truth as he sees it. This is so profoundly important to someone with these sorts of astrological placements, but with such an emphasis and in a chart that has Mars opposite Jupiter across the Fixed Signs of Taurus and Scorpio, compromise is not generally on the table and a 'devil may care' attitude can easily take hold, coupled with the nature of Fixed Signs to be long and drawn out. At the time when Salman attempted to limit the publication and translation of his book, Pluto was conjunct Salman's Jupiter (religion, beliefs, publication) and opposite his Mars, indicating how he was having to deal with the threats that can be unleashed when extending himself out into the world. With transiting Saturn opposite his Sun-Moon conjunction, he tried to delimit his creative output in order to protect himself and his family.
Salman talked about the 13-year period during which he strived for literary success (despite actually achieving it in 1981...transiting Neptune opposing and transiting Pluto trining his Sun-Moon conjunction, with Pluto squaring his Mercury). Anyone who studies astrology immediately thinks of Saturn's cycle when they hear something of that duration. The 13-year period in question is 1975 to 1988, from the publication of his first book, which was largely unsuccessful, to the publication of the Satanic Verses. In terms of planetary cycles, Saturn was conjunct Salman's Mercury in 1975, and possibly also his IC if the birthtime is accurate. Over the next 13 years it would then climb up the chart to the MC, and towards the opposition with Mercury, but the most important thing is this: on the date of publication of the Satanic Verses, Saturn and Uranus were conjunct at 26-27 degrees of Sagittarius directly opposite Salman's Sun-Moon conjunction at 26-27 Gemini.
A quick look at Salman's star-planet parans shows, amongst other things, the following:-
Sun rising when Zosma is anti-culminating - To receive, or cause, suffering
Mercury culminating when Castor is Culminating - A skill with words and language
Venus rising when Capella is Rising - To challenge the values of society
"You will strive to be free of the restrictions society can place on a person, and will be inclined to act outside of the social norm, or even to challenge the unspoken rules of society.... this combination will see you struggling to deal with your need for family and support versus your strong desire for independence. Learn to express your independent nature in an appropriate cause, thereby ensuring a mroe settled domestic life."
Saturn culminating when Hamal is Setting - Hard physical or intellectual choices that can cause frustration or anger
In summary, Salman's chart is one that suggests someone who rebels against accepting a life of ordinary mortals. There is an intellectual commitment to the truth, undoubtedly, and a facility with language that borders on an utterly total involvement with this sphere, but there is also an arrogance, and considerable problems with emotions, forming deeper connections with people, closeness both literally and emotionally, bodily experiences and physical realities, and living within sensible limits.
