The Life and Legend (and chart) of Freddie Mercury

Everyone's talking lately about Freddie Mercury. Understandably so: the movie is a marvelous capture of the personalities in the band. And he was the main focal point. This is my intuitive/analytical take on the late, great singer and his personality.

I noticed Freddie’s chart is a bowl: it’s a self-contained pattern that indicates the person has a need for independence, isolation/involvement with others, and a singular focus. Within the bowl, there’s a lead planet, and this is Uranus in Gemini, in the 10th house of Career/Status. Certainly, Freddie was known for those qualities, both in his need for being away from the view of society, but also along with his dramatic need for being noticed. In Gemini, I think this was his lightning-quick mind and need for communications in socially rebellious ways and in contrast to moral standards. In the 10th house of Capricorn’s domain, Uranus found a platform for public broadcast (singing and a musical career) with all the flair, attention to ego, and bombast that Freddie could handle (or not—the 12th house Sun). However, with Pluto in Leo in the 12th, Freddie not only found the inner need for leadership and admiration in this life, but it also was part of a previous incarnation. In trine with Lilith and his South Node, he was really showing that he could do it again and with gusto.

Since it’s acting as a secondary chart ruler/leader, Uranus is trine to key planets: a 1st house Mars in Libra that also allowed Freddie’s bisexuality to find expression along with his stage and public persona. Uranus and a 2nd house Jupiter in Libra trine supported Freddie’s over-the-top lifestyle, and here, I would say Jupiter also gave momentum in a big way to his indulgences, especially sexually, as the 2nd house is expression of self-values. In Libra, Freddie found support for “everyone is fair game in love and pleasure.” Chiron also in trine to Uranus gave way to hypnotic charisma, and in Libra, there’s a need for relationship repair. Again, I see this in Freddie’s coming forward as a man who favored both genders until he settled into a gay lifestyle, which Uranus endorsed as bohemian. His Uranus and moon are also in the polarity of father-mother (10th/4th), and I see the opposition as a means of social rebelliousness and unconventionality in his actions and lifestyle, and also perhaps that his father and mother had different goals and expectations of him as the oldest son. Finally, the 7th house Vertex in Pisces square Uranus tells me that relationships were a social standard that Freddie was drawn to as a generational issue, and that a vague, elusive-escapist type of partner was what he wanted. Certainly, in his early years, he was vague about his ability to share his intimate feelings with his girlfriend. On a final note about aspects: I know Venus in Libra 28 can be possibly seen in trine with Uranus, and this certainly enhances Freddie’s flamboyant visual energy and his erotic appetite. Especially as Venus is in a sign of social duality in the house of personal appetite, so I do accept the aspect in a wide orb than I normally use. I would also say his Vesta in the 7th made him sacrifice something for a partnership; certainly his love life and his potential marriage to Mary Austin.

Freddie was a double Virgo: Sun and ascendant, and I would note this in his feelings of superiority as a dominant force of talent. Virgoans or those with strong qualities sometimes think themselves as superior because they are so determined not to show their flaws to the world-at-large. I am sure Freddie’s uncomfortableness with his legendary overbite was part of this Virgoan sense of “I MUST be perfect before the World.” (Strangely enough, he credited his teeth with as part of the gift of his singing capacity.)

The Virgo drive for achievement is almost as strong as a Capricorn’s thirst for legacy. As a 12th house Sun, I see Freddie hiding his true identity away from the world because there was so much social shame attached to a gay person. Freddie also drove his band to perfection—nicely documented in the film with drummer Roger Taylor’s vocal donations to “Bohemian Rhapsody” being laid down on tape. Freddie’s North Node in Gemini is square to both his Sun and ascendant, and it was a personal, inner frustration for his career endeavors to blend with his Life Path expression. Note that his dramatic stage and personal life were sources of gossip and frustrated communication. Poor Freddie just could not come forward and say he was a man who wanted variety in his intimate relationships and identifying with his sexuality. His parents, as seen in the movie, were very hard-working people with high expectations for him, and the Virgo ascendant gives backup for this. Certainly, too, Freddie worked hard as a singer and musician, and his Virgoan ascendant and Piscean domain Sun brought forward his musical gifts. As a 2nd Virgo Sun decan, he had a Capricorn-like edge to his identity that drove him for success as a bandleader and performer.

With Neptune in Libra in the 1st, we again see the nebulous identity issues that Freddie faced, especially trying to reconcile his sexuality and relationship needs. Also, the drug and alcohol indulgences are part of this placement. In square to his 4th house Moon in expansive Sagittarius, those problems were seen in his elaborate parties, and the largess of the homes where he lived.

Going on to the 2nd house, we notice the significant Libra stellium. Again, in the House of Self-Values, this would otherwise tell me that he walked the tightrope in relationships, and certainly, his choice of partners was part of his legend. Venus in the 2nd also opened his hedonistic ways, and conjunct Juno, the marriage consort and expression of sexual needs in a relationship/commitment, Freddie wanted a passionate bed mate, be it man or woman. (I’m again considering that he had a girlfriend, Mary Austin, earlier in his career.) Both Venus and Juno squared Saturn: Freddie Mercury suffered from alienation of those whom he wanted to love (having to hide his gay love interests and battling the inquiries of the press), and not fully giving his love to Mary.

Moving on to the 3rd house, we find Lilith, the Black Moon, in Sagittarius. Here, there is a thwarted expression of thoughts and ideas, although the individual has a powerful wish for being an oracle of truth. Lilith squares Freddie’s Sun and ascendant, and again, I take this to indicate the frustration he felt at not being able to live his love interest openly as a gay man, and also battling the media. Directly noted in Wikepedia: “In December 1974, when asked directly, "So how about being bent?" by the New Musical Express, Mercury replied, "You're a crafty cow. Let's put it this way: there were times when I was young and green. It's a thing schoolboys go through. I've had my share of schoolboy pranks. I'm not going to elaborate further." Mercury once said of himself: "When I'm performing I'm an extrovert, yet inside I'm a completely different man." I also see this by way of his South Node in Sagittarius in his 3rd: his way of communicating was something he had done in past lives as “a Bringer of Great Wisdom,” and in this present case, it was the lyrics of his songs. I haven’t looked through them for messages, but certainly “Bohemian Rhapsody” is loaded with opportunities.

Moving on to his 4th house of Family and Home Life-Environment, I would say that Freddie’s family origins are indicated by the Moon in Sagittarius: the Bulsara family moved from India to Zanzibar, Tanzania, which is certainly a long distance and from one continent to another. Freddie’s family practiced Zoroastrianism, which is one of the world's oldest religions that remains active. It is a monotheistic faith (i.e. a single creator God), centered in a dualistic cosmology of good and evil and an eschatology predicting the ultimate destruction of evil. Ascribed to the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra), it exalts a deity of wisdom, Ahura Mazda (Wise Lord), as its Supreme Being. Major features of Zoroastrianism, such as messianism, judgment after death, heaven and hell, and free will have influenced other religious systems, including Second Temple Judaism, Gnosticism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. This certainly resonates with the higher social and cultural connections with Sagittarius. I would also see Freddie’s large Georgian home as a second way of fulfilling the sign, and also the large lavish parties with which he entertained. 
Also, I’m noting that his life-long love interest and friend, Mary Austin, was given a home adjacent to his, so I’m qualifying this as his “larger-than-life” generosity for a female (the Moon) by gesture. I would also see fulfillment of Freddie’s 29-degree Part of Fortune in Sagittarius by the exterior Japanese walled garden and trees. As well, having a large home may well have been a way of giving him that measure of happiness and security. Adding to this: Pallas in Sagittarius as a means of advocating the benefits of both the Japanese culture and the respect for nature.

And last, in Freddie’s 5th house, the asteroid Ceres, which I find as an externalization of both the Moon’s need for nurturance and relating to the Inner Child as well. It’s 29 degrees Capricorn and squaring his Venus and Jupiter in his 2nd house. To me, this shows Freddie’s way of releasing his creative nature in a way that let his music and showmanship find outlets which satisfied his generosity (Jupiter) and his social enjoyments and pleasures (Venus), even if it created some friction (the squaring aspect) with relationships—which it certainly did in his love life with Mary Austin and indulging in promiscuity which eventually gave him AIDS.

Finally, in considering Freddie’s elemental balance and polarities, I find it VERY interesting that he was dominantly male-sign influenced: eight planets worth. I would see this as his way of expressing his masculinity in an uber-way through his bisexuality and ultimate gay lifestyle. He clearly over-dramatized this, but he loved using it to his advantage for his success as an artist and performer. Freddie had three fire signs, two earth, five air—and no water. Certainly, he was exciting and enthusiastic-exuberant enough to let the fire blaze, he was socially engaged and intellectual enough as a musician and artist and boldly engaged with the public to fulfill the air, but not very grounded, as seen by the lack of earth. What I question—and this is a variable of the singleton quality of any sign or planet lacking in something with only one (or even less) expression: is the fact that he was not “emotional” with no water. Certainly it can be argued that he was very in touch with his sensitivity as a man of variable sexuality and a blazing stage presence. I think this is the other side of the singleton issue: often the individual over-expresses him/herself for the lack of an element or sign. 

Freddie’s modality balance shows four Cardinal and Mutable, but only two Fixed. I would say his lifestyle and larger-than-life persona make up for the Cardinal energy (and he certainly faced significant Life Challenges), and the Mutable in the way he found adjustment to his personal needs and social life. He did have the staying power of a Fixed nature, I think, through his determination and perseverance to BE the rock star we know and love. 

Lastly, his house quadrants are balanced for an upper-lower range, so he was comfortable going out and meeting the public-at-large (upper quadrant), and he loved having his friends coming to his mansion (lower half). I note that his chart shows a 5:1 eastern-western pattern, so I’m going with the idea that he was VERY “me-first” in nature (especially with 1st and 2nd house planets), and that he was interested in fulfilling his social networking and associations more than “a significant other” and their needs. 

Freddie’s rulerships are Mercury (ironic, yes?) in Virgo and Venus in Libra—again, I believe, showing his brilliant mind for lyrics and his love for people, the arts, and the pleasures of life in all its beauty and glory. Mutual receptions are found with the Sun-Mercury connection (again, the irony of identifying himself with the planet of Communications), and Venus-Jupiter (living the “bigger-more glamorous life with all the glory and indulgences”). With a 2nd-quarter Moon lunar phase, I believe this to show Freddie was born to fulfill his need for “telling the bigger story of life.”

More importantly than the chart, we have Freddie’s work captured on video and in sound, and as such, I have included the performance at Wembley Stadium which I feel shows so much of the majesty of his work and personality. Long live Farrokh Bulsara, and in turn, the man we know and love as Freddie Mercury, and his legacy.