The acerbic New York comedienne Joan Rivers has died after an operation on her throat went wrong. She was having an operation on her vocal chords, but something must have gone drastically wrong and she suffered a cardiac arrest and went into a coma. Despite the best efforts of the medical staff at Mount Sinai hospital in New York, they were unable to save her and she finally passed away today.
Joan was born in Brooklyn, a proud New Yorker on 8th June 1933 at 13.00 hrs (from memory - AstroDatabank). She was a Sun Gemini and had a chart ruled by Mars with an Aries Ascendant, so no surprise there as she was very direct and pro-active in her life. She had her natal Mars Jupiter in critical Virgo conjunction square to a Sun in Gemini, Moon in lively Sagittarius opposition. This critical yet fun, aggressive over the top and edgy side of her character went right to the heart of her soul. This is a chart very heavy on the 3rd house and communication. The Sun in Gemini in her 3rd is also joined by Mercury, the planet of communication and Venus in a close conjunction opposing her Midheaven and square to her Aries Ascendant. No wonder she ended up talking and performing for a living?
Neptune, the planet ruling TV and performing sits in her 6th house of everyday work in conjunction with that Mars Jupiter conjunction. It also makes a wide trine to her Midheaven as does Uranus from her 1st so she was instinctive, clever, independent and a bit of a rebel in her work. Saturn was retrograde in Aquarius in her 11th house. This provided her with a very cynical view on life and you will know if you ever saw her perform she questioned anything and everything. That Saturn required so much love and appreciation though. You know I have seen many comics with this position, as if they make people laugh to get the adoration that they never got in their formative years. That Saturn retrograde says to me that Joan never received the love of her father, and she has performed to replace it in some regard.
Her illness I believe was caused by the movement of the wounded healer Chiron transiting in her 12th house of hospitals. It was not only opposing her natal Mars (the planet of surgery) and Jupiter conjunction in the 6th house of health but also it was also square to her Sun and Moon, therefore it was in a very tricky and difficult position for her. Transiting Mars and Saturn in her 8th house of permanent change had been square to her natal Saturn very recently, another very difficult double aspect to deal with when you are in your old age. Saturn ruled her Midheaven, and this operation not only put her in the spotlight but it would have caused her a lot of problems. Always remember that a square to the Midheaven is also a square to the Imum Coeli on the chart, the base of the wheel and a place of endings. This surgery (Mars) had a very debilitating (Saturn) and public (10th house) effect on her and was to prove the last significant act in a very eventful life.
I also note that transiting Uranus was also making a very very close orb (0.03 degrees) to her 6th house chart ruler indicating something going very wrong, a mistake perhaps in the hospital and through the care she received? Uranus ruled her 12th house completing a difficult picture connecting these two houses of health (6th) and suffering (12th). Mars inconjunct Uranus is an aspect of accidents and unfortunate events.
As ever, my thoughts and best wishes go out to Joan's family and friends. May she rest in peace, and entertain the angels at the Pearly Gates...
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