Genius and Junkies: Generation X in the Spotlight

The Generation X (or Gen X'ers) is a term given to my generation, the one born after the 'Baby Boomers': we are the children of the hippie generation, falling approximately into the birth years 1961 - 1981. In the next few entries I'm going to look at the natal charts of some of Generation X's more notable (or notorious) characters, focusing on music first and foremost, since every generation can be defined, more or less, by the music it makes as well as the drugs it takes.

There are plenty of people from whom to choose, but I'll focus on the charts of four of the more interesting (to me) musicians, two of whom have (so far) survived the ravages of fame and drugs, and two who didn't: John Frusciante (of Red Hot Chili Peppers), Scott Weiland (of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver), Kurt Cobain (Nirvana, of course!), and the one I find the most wrenching, Layne Staley of Alice in Chains.

What interested me most in these four men, and what I will explore in their respective and collective charts, are the commonalities between them: music-making and drug addiction being the most obvious. The music business and drug-taking famously go hand-in-hand; this in and of itself is not surprising. What interests me is all of these men struggled openly with their addictions; their suffering was witnessed by a generation of fans. Two have managed to (sometimes) overcome the addictions; the other two succumbed. But what other things did they/do they share? Any differences or similarities in upbringing? Do these differences or similarities reflect on 'Our Generation' as a wider whole?

Three of them (Weiland, Cobain, and Staley) were born with Neptune in Scorpio; Frusciante's Neptune is barely in Sagittarius, at 0' 53". All of them share the generational aspect of Neptune sextile Pluto. How did this aspect influence these men? How did it influence all of us? Or did it?

This isn't intended to be an in-depth examination of any of their charts, or to become a treatise on addiction or generational aspects. All four musicians made or make music that I love; all four are or were colourful, complex people whose triumphs and tragedies happened to be played out in a vast public fishbowl. I am simply looking at this from a 'human interest' point of view, rather than making any hard and fast statements about the X Generation. Stay tuned!

Neptune on the MC: The Art of Self-Sabotage

Neptune on the Midheaven is a tricky aspect to have: it's a blessing, it's a curse. Neptune rules all things foggy and nebulous: dreams, drugs, and deception are its keywords. Okay, okay, so it has some creative, even prophetic, qualities too, but it doesn't take much to see the links between dreams and creativity, or drugs and prophesying. Just ask a former acquaintance of mine, who thought he was an orange. Yes, the fruit.

The Midheaven traditionally rules honour and glory; your career; the way you manifest yourself on the stage of the world; and your mama. Having any planet on or near the 10th angle gives this house and angle more 'oomph', or, in the case of Neptune, more 'oooh'.

You can see what the combination of Neptune, the planet of swirling mist and illusion, and the strongest angle in the natal chart, can do to a person. In one word: indecision.

My Midheaven sits in the sign of Scorpio, a mysterious, dark, watery, surgical sort of sign. Having Neptune (the planet of drugs) in Scorpio on the Midheaven strongly suggests either a career in medicine or the helping professions, some sort of 'glamourous' profession (like film or fashion or Art), or a job as a martyr of some sort. Joan of Arc must have had Neptune on the Midheaven, perhaps in a fire sign.

If only Neptune would let me settle! I have (so far) been interested in, and studied for: medicine (I did pre-med), nursing, social work, refugee work, and complementary medicine. I've also considered counselling, osteopathy, and massage. Note the element of sacrifice in all these careers: they all take a lot from the person, and give a lot back.

The problem being, of course, that just as soon as I decide on a path and take steps to study it more intensively (see my 9th house Jupiter), I change my mind; or rather, it changes itself, leaving me back at Square One.

I don't have many of what are considered 'bad' Neptune aspects: Neptune sextiles Pluto, so through my visions/imaginings, I am able to transform myself at a fundamental level. Neptune squares my natal Mars, and let this be a warning to anyone out there with this aspect: drugs are bad, very, very bad, for Mars squared Neptune people. Take care, even with ibuprofen. I had a minor surgery (Mars) under anaesthesia (Neptune) and not only woke up in the middle of it, but discovered that I couldn't breathe, either.

Regardless of the lack of too many hard Neptune aspects, I find this Neptune placement to be the most challenging part of my chart: it simply won't let me 'be' someone in a career for too long, before I find a way to scupper myself, change my mind, and try something else. This is fine when one is twenty and still discovering the world. At my age, it's troublesome, to say the least.