Following the tragic deaths of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds within a day of each other HBO re-released the 2016 documentary about the mother and daughter. The film depicts clearly the disconnect between the way these two viewed their relationship. This incongruity is common in all relationships but is particularly painful in connections between mother and child since that is the primal relationship that sets the stage for all of our other connections throughout our life.
One of the gifts of astrology is the lens it provides to see the motivations and energies behind our own actions and the actions of others. We tend to ascribe our own motivations to the way others behave but if we are able to understand their perspective it can begin to heal the most challenging of relationships.
Carrie Fisher came to fame as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise, and since then she has played out her mental illness in the public arena which is not surprising since her Libra Sun, representing her Self, sits at the top of the chart (the Midheaven). The Midheaven is the cusp of the astrological house of career, and when your Sun/Self sits at that point you tend to live your life in the public eye in some way. Libra seeks balance and harmony through pleasing others, which often comes at a cost to one’s self. Dutiful Capricorn is rising in the chart, and her Taurus Moon, like Libra, craved the peace of stability and harmony. Carrie’s chart also shows a challenging square between Saturn (self-doubt) to Pluto (destruction) which often results in inner fears that require self-comfort in order to achieve the peace she craved. Both Saturn and Pluto form a challenging square to her Moon, representing the Mother, delineating the intense relationship she had with Debbie Reynolds.
Like many people born between the early 1950s and the late 1980s, Carrie had a stressful opposition between Chiron (the metaphysical energy of wounding and healing) and Uranus (electromagnetic energy of change and radical behavior). This opposition is prevalent in the charts of healers and substance abusers because of the intensity of the energy it generates. In the HBO documentary family members noted that Carrie had a personality change at the age of 13, and this was exactly the time when transiting Saturn (stress and challenges) formed a challenging square to both Chiron and Uranus, triggering her nervous system in a way that she was unable to handle. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1985 following a transit of both Saturn and Pluto (destruction and rebirth) to her Sun and a nearly fatal drug overdose.
This Chiron/Uranus opposition does not always suggest mental illness, but like other planetary aspects it does require a certain amount of conscious transformation to be utilized successfully. At the time of Carrie’s death, Uranus in the progressed chart had lined up once again with Uranus and Chiron in the natal chart over the past few years, triggering an electrical reaction that likely caused her reported relapse.
Carrie’s relationship with her mother, Debbie Reynolds, is a fascinating one. The HBO documentary shows how in love Carrie was with her mother – how desperate for her love and attention. With the Sun in Aries, she was self-oriented and had a strong drive, and a Sun/Uranus (autonomy) conjunction imbued her with a need to live her life her own way.
The synastry between Debbie and Carrie’s charts shows a basic lack of understanding between them but also a deep love, with Debbie’s Venus opposite Carrie’s Moon, a very strong emotional link. The Nodes in each chart form a harmonious aspect to the Ascendant in the other, a karmic connection. At the time of their deaths, Debbie at age 84 was in her “Uranus Return,” the time when Uranus returns to its place in the chart and instigates some type of major change.
Perhaps Carrie and Debbie can find the connection now that they both craved during their lifetime.
I also have the Chiron-Pluto opposition and went through a change starting at around age 12/13 that made my life miserable at times. (Social anxiety disorder, which didn’t have a name back then so I thought I was crazy).
You said “At the time of Carrie’s death, Uranus in the progressed chart had lined up once again with Uranus and Chiron in the natal chart over the past few years, triggering an electrical reaction that likely caused her reported relapse.”
My question is this: Would Uranus in my progressed chart line up with Uranus and Chiron at the same age as it did for Carrie? What could this bring besides a relapse into social anxiety, because I don’t really see that happening. Thanks.
For those born in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, life was very interesting and challenging. My family (6 siblings) was very fortunate to have a mother that knew how to keep us together.
We still celebrate all the summer holidays and Christmas together.
We have several VERY strong personalities in our older family members. What is interesting is there are few strong personal in the younger kids.
A couple of comments-…. First, so-called “bipolar disorder” is a completely bogus, fabricated “disorder”, which was literally invented to serve as an excuse to sell potent neuro-toxins, (also called “psych meds”), and to further the agenda of the pseudoscience drug racket known as “psychiatry”. Carrie Fisher also was subjected to brain-damaging Electro-Cution Torture, (so-called “ECT”), largely at her Mother’s instigation. Carrie’s troubles had more to do with unhealthy family dynamics, and coming of age in a sick & twisted Hollywood culture. Her multiple substance use & abuse was also a prime factor. The psychiatric drugs she was given, along with illicit drugs, caused far more harm that the media will ever admit. Please visit >madinamerica.combeyondmeds.com<, for a better way of dealing with and healing from, personal and social distress.
And they give these drugs to our children. If I was a kid today, they would have me on ADHD and other meds, to calm ne down, but life wouldn’t have been as fun for me.