(Editor’s note: We posted a version of this blog about Paul McCartney in October 2011 and were inspired to re-visit it by a lovely synchronicity: On August 25, with the transiting North Node at 26° Gemini — conjunct Paul’s Sun which is exactly on his Venus-Mars midpoint — we received an email from an editor doing research on his life. She alerted us to a newly published comprehensive guide on how to play like Paul McCartney on Beginner Guitar HQ. Read it here: How to Play Bass Guitar like Paul McCartney. This is also posted as transiting Venus is trine Mars. All in all, it seems to be a perfect reminder that Venus and Mars are ever present, and the music of the spheres surrounds us all. Please enjoy the astrology and the music.)
Paul McCartney married Nancy Shevell on Sunday, October 9, 2011, at the Olde Marylebone Town Hall in London, the same location of his wedding to Linda Eastman in 1969. (After a famously close and happy marriage, Linda died in 1998.)
We have recorded times for Paul and Linda and I’m going to start with the angular connections (and eclipse patterns) between their horoscopes.
Inner wheel: Paul McCartney
June 18, 1942
2 p.m. BDST Liverpool, England (53N25, 2W55)
Outer wheel: Linda McCartney
Sept. 24, 1941
10 a.m. EDT New York, NY (40N31, 74W00)
Placidus houses, true node (both Rodden A rating)
There are significant planetary connections to the all-important angles between the natal charts: Her Jupiter (21° Gemini) is conjunct his MC (24°); her nodal axis (22° Virgo-Pisces) crosses his Ascendant/Descendant (25° Virgo-Pisces); his Moon (17° Leo) is conjunct her MC (16° Leo), and his Juno, asteroid of marriage (7°48’ Scorpio), is conjunct her Ascendant (8°42’ Scorpio).
They married on March 12, 1969. (1) There was a solar eclipse on March 18 at 27° Pisces, conjunct his Descendant and triggering both of their prenatal solar eclipse (PNSE) degrees. (2)
Linda was born on September 24, 1941, a few days after a solar eclipse (September 21). Her PNSE is 27°47′ Virgo, precisely conjunct his Neptune (27°07’), ruler of his Pisces 7th-house cusp.
Paul’s PNSE is 25°45′ Pisces, exactly on his Descendant, placing unusual emphasis on the striking importance of partnerships of all kinds in his life. (3) (Remember the Beatles?)
Linda died on April 17, 1998. There was a Full Moon eclipse on March 13 at 22°23’ Virgo conjunct his Ascendant/Descendant (and square the MC/IC) and her nodal axis (22° Virgo/Pisces).
In 2002 Paul married Heather Mills, a marriage that ended with a very messy divorce in 2008. I have used a sunrise chart for her, as there is no birth time. (4) Her Pluto-Uranus conjunction (opposite Chiron) straddles his Ascendant/Descendant axis.
Inner wheel: Paul McCartney
Outer wheel: Heather Mills, sunrise chart
January 12, 1968
Aldershot, England (51N04, 0W47)
Paul and Heather were married on June 11, 2002, the day after a solar eclipse at 19°54′ Gemini conjunct his 1st-house ruler, Mercury retrograde at 18°21’ Gemini.
Heather Mills’s natal Juno is exactly conjunct his at 7° Scorpio. The less savory side of Juno in Scorpio is apparent, as personal details about their respective shadow sides came into the public record in the divorce proceedings. (5)
Curiously, her PNSE is 9° Scorpio, conjunct her natal Juno, amplifying the significance of marriage partners in her life trajectory. (6)
October 9 is the birthday of McCartney’s songwriting partner John Lennon and on that day in 2011 he married Nancy Shevell. Although there is no public birth time for her, here is her sunrise chart. (7)
Nancy Shevell
November 20, 1959
New York, NY (40N31, 74W00)
sunrise chart, true node, whole sign houses
The Moon was in Cancer until about 9:15 p.m. on her birthday, which places it in her sign of rulership. Nancy has four — five if she was born before 9:15 p.m — planets in domicile: Venus in Libra, Mars in Scorpio, Jupiter in Sagittarius and Saturn in Capricorn. We can’t say too much more without a birth time, but planets in their home signs offer a great deal of inner and outer resources to carry one through life.
Looking at eclipse patterns again, there was a lunar eclipse two months after the wedding. The eclipsed Moon on December 10, 2011 was at 18°08’ Gemini, again conjunct Paul’s 1st-house ruler, Mercury. As noted, there was a solar eclipse at 19°54′ Gemini conjunct his 1st-house Mercury the day after his difficult marriage to Heather Mills. In traditional astrological lore, the solar eclipse on a planet can be seen as burning, or destroying the planet it touches. It seems that the lunar eclipse two months after the marriage to Nancy was a far more gentle omen for the couple.
Nancy Shevell’s natal Neptune is 7°27’ Scorpio, directly in Paul’s natal Juno (7°48’ Scorpio). As mentioned above, his previous two wives also had direct conjunctions to his Juno.
Transiting Mercury (his natal chart ruler) at the wedding was at 23° Libra, conjunct the beautiful fixed star Spica, with asteroid Juno, the goddess of marriage standing right there at 24° Libra. The reports of the ceremony recounted that warm memories of Linda were spoken, along with the general happiness for the new couple. (Paul and Linda’s composite Juno is at 23° Libra in the 1st house, which is also the degree of Linda’s Sun/Moon midpoint — a beautiful testimony of her presence at the marriage.)
The great songwriter has the natal Venus/Mars midpoint directly conjunct the Sun at 26° Gemini, so the creative dance of the masculine/feminine resides in the heart of his essential nature.
Here’s a link to his lovely song Venus and Mars, written in 1975 when he was married to Linda.
The beginning lyrics:
Standing in the hall of the great cathedral
Waiting for the transport to come
Starship 21ZNA9
A good friend of mine
Studies the stars
Venus and Mars are alright tonight
Come away on a strange vacation
Holiday hardly begun
Run into a good friend of mine
Sold me her sign
Reach for the stars
Venus and Mars are alright tonight
The connection between Paul’s natal Venus in Taurus, its place of rulership and Nancy’s Mars is compelling — her Mars is equally potent in Scorpio, its place of rulership. The opposition between Venus and Mars across charts indicates a potent and creative attraction. In my mind, it is the most symmetrical Venus/Mars dynamic of any of Paul’s marriages.
Inner wheel: Paul, Outer: Nancy
May Paul and Nancy have continued happiness!
References:
(1) All biographical details from Wikipedia
(2) Readers may know that I am keen on noting the degree of the PNSE (as per Carl Jansky) as a lifelong sensitive degree that can show people (or events) with whom we have a compelling or unusual connection.
(3) The solar eclipse prior to Paul’s birth was on March 16, 1942.
(4) Heather Mills: Jan. 12, 1968 in Aldershot, England, sunrise chart
Wikipedia
(5) “Mills publicly accused McCartney of cruelty and sought a massive $250 million divorce settlement, but the judge sided with McCartney, calling her claims exorbitant. The British public, enamored of the sunny Sir Paul since his early Beatle days, also sided with the singer.”
Sun Times
(6) The solar eclipse was on November 2, 1967.