David Cameron, Jupiter and death

Thursday September 9th 2010
David Cameron with his first son Ivan in 2002.
Ivan died in 2009.

It’s remarkable how often in families a death and a birth happen in quick succession. Poor David Cameron lost his father today just weeks after his wife gave birth to that darling baby.

My wise friend Judith, who has seen a chart or two in her time, maintains that she’s never known the death of a loved one without a transit from that most benevolent of planets, Jupiter. This seems strange since Jupiter is not traditionally associated with death at all. It’s supposed to be the “greater benefic” bringer of jollity and luck. Death is the domain of the reaper Saturn. But Judith knows what she’s talking about.

Take a look at UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s chart.

... from astrodatabank

… from astrodatabank

Jupiter was opposing David Cameron’s ascendant when his father died yesterday. When his son Ivan died, Jupiter semi-squared (made a 45 degree angle) to his Saturn which rules Cameron’s house of children.

Why Jupiter? Well, I’m not sure, but the explanation could be something like this. Jupiter signifies wisdom and enlightenment. Perhaps, the passing of someone we love can give us greater wisdom. Or perhaps, there is a God (of some kind) and our darling is passing into his her or its loving embrace. Death may not be so bad after all.

Above all, Jupiter is about expansion. Do our souls expand when we die and become part of something greater? I’ll leave that for you to ponder.

Obviously, Jupiter‘s not the only planet to be jostling Cameron’s chart today. His father died very suddenly. Uranus, the planet that deals out that kind of shock, slipped back into Pisces the other day across Cameron’s descendant. Cameron’s Saturn and Chiron are both in late degrees of Pisces. Saturn is usually used as one of the signifiers of the father; in Cameron’s case especially so, since most of his fourth house is in Capricorn (Saturn’s sign), although it’s ruled by Jupiter.

As an aside this last suggests to me that his home life was rather austere as a child.

And here’s something fascinating, Chiron (the wounded healer) is exactly, exactly opposite Cameron’s Mars today. In Cameron’s chart, Mars rules the 8th house of death. He’s going to find his father’s passing very painful and it’s going to effect how he feels about himself as a man. I wonder if he has some unfinished business with his father. Chiron can signify the wound that never heals.

I’m going to check Chiron for those other death. When Ivan died Chiron was exactly semi-sextile it’s own position while transiting the fifth house of children. All these aspects are exact. I think that Chiron connection is something I’ve never heard anywhere, but it should be investigated further.

You know something, the more I look at his chart and consider his life, the more interesting Cameron becomes. It’s been hard not to simply label him as a pampered toff with a deep sense of entitlement (Moon/Jupiter conjunction in Leo, say no more). But he’s suffered a lot of deep personal pain, and it’s this pain which makes him unusual.

The tremendously difficult and explosive mid-60s generational signature Pluto/Uranus conjunction is buried in his 12th house – the collective unconscious, the things we inherit. This opposes the painful Saturn/Chiron conjunction in the 6th house of service and healing. Some people say that Chiron is strong in this house. Both these houses are about sacrifice, suffering and service. (Someone else with even more emphasis on these houses? G Brown esq. Maybe being PM isn’t such a great job.)

His Witney consitutency is next door to ours, so I’ve come across people who’ve met him politicking around. One woman said to me that he seemed strangely vulnerable. This fits with the Chironic activity.

There’s some controversy over whether he has Virgo or Libra rising. The difference is five minutes, which is really too close to call except by deduction. I plump for Virgo for several reasons. First of all, he  looks like a Virgo – dapper and a little prim with that teeny tiny mouth. Second of all, he’s charming and diplomatic I’m sure, but he’s already got Sun and Venus in first house Libra. If you added the ascendant to that mix, he’d be totally vapid and probably utterly irresistible – neither of which is the case.

And just one further thought. The great face-off in the sky which we’re experiencing has passed closely over Cameron’s most personal angles. Something happened in 2008/9 which shifted the ground beneath his feet. I wonder what that was – something secret maybe. And something’s happening now which is changing, maybe deepening, his relationship with the “other” – be that friend, enemy or deputy prime minister.

Let us just hope that this transit of Jupiter brings our PM greater wisdom. He’s going to need it.

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  1. Anonymous says:

    I think this is one of your most interesting pieces yet. It’s helped to crystallise my impression that Cameron is a politician of great subtlety and fine nuances. I am far from sure whether he is doing the right thing for the country but he’s interesting to watch.

  2. Anonymous says:

    I was on my Jupiter return when my mother died. Chiron (which is important in my chart, being right on my MC) wasn’t doing anything significant at the time (that I can see), but Saturn was conjunct Pluto.

    Despite having a well placed and aspected Jupiter, I’ve never found it brings good fortune, often quite the opposite.

    Many thanks for a fascinating piece.

  3. Christina says:

    that’s very interesting – Jupiter… expansion… hmm… Saturn… maturing … thanks for that

  4. Anonymous says:

    One could think of Jupiter as a death transit that sends one on the last big journey.

  5. Sabrina says:

    It is a great amount of grief he’s being through…

    Jupiter, Chiron, Mars and the NN have being active in my chart when loved ones died. Mars rules most of my 7th and the cusp of 8th.
    Like I mentioned in other post, I do believe Jupiter can bring liberation, great relief from suffering (which can be seen as the other side of Saturn, when it means limitations of the physical plane).

  6. Christina says:

    Sabrina – I agree with you about Jupiter and boundlessness. It makes me feel much better about death and what comes after

  7. LB says:

    Hi Christina –

    I managed my mom’s care for years, as she stubbornly lingered somewhere between life and death – as difficult as it was for me, it was much harder for her. She finally passed away during the Jupiter/Neptune/Chiron conjunction, which was exactly trine my Sun (ruler of my 12th). Her exact time of death coincided with my Lunar Return and I just noticed today, how transiting Ceres was exactly conjunct my 12th house Pluto, which is quincunx my Moon. Jupiter rules the cusp of my natal 4th.

    I agree with you about Jupiter. Although the journey allowed our relationship to heal (and I learned a lot), I do believe my mother’s passing finally freed us both.

  8. Christina says:

    Thank you for sharing that LB. The astrology is beautiful.

    Jupiter is our mentor on the last journey. Also interesting how often Chiron crops up.

    I’m glad you felt freed.

  9. Isy Aweigh says:

    Until now, I’ve found him an equivocal, mealy-mouthed, smug & slightly twisted prat, but I’m a little disillusioned with politicians and I see him at a distance of, what, ~5,000 miles — and mostly through the lens of his complicity in the Mideast wars.

    He’s much more interesting to me now. And that photo with his now-dead infant son is heartbreaking.

  10. Christina says:

    Actually I pretty much agree with your original analysis, but through the lens of astrology everyone’s got something. I think he’s failed to develop parts of his chart because of his upbringing and environment.

  11. […] my last post, I thought I’d check to see what Jupiter was doing at some famous demises. Naturally, the […]

  12. […] are afforded a glimpse, however fleeting and obscured, into a larger universe – birth and death (click to read a previous post on this). I believe our guide in that moment is Chiron, and sometimes, as it […]

  13. […] described before (see post) how Jupiter can be involved in death charts. In this one he’s joined exactly by that violent […]

  14. Jupiter is usually prominent in death charts.

  15. Melissa says:

    I just checked, my dad’s jupiter with conjunct his ascendant and Chiron was exactly opposite on the descendant. The other thing I’m finding with Chiron is that the degree is the age which the person had some monumental event (I’ve found both good and bad actually) Very interesting stuff! Thank you!

  16. Nick says:

    Pluto was on the IC at the time, Uranus was conjunct Jupiter all square to Pluto and Saturn was also square to Pluto and Saturn on the ASC why assume this is Jupiter?