Sixty four years ago in Portland, Maine a legendary writer was born. After studying English and gaining a Bachelor of Arts in the subject and then working as a labourer, Stephen King started to write. He still does today, quite brilliantly. I have no doubt that by the time he decides to call it a day, he will be acclaimed as the the foremost horror story teller the world has yet seen.
Stephen was born on 21st September 1947 in Portland, Maine at 01.30am. He, like so many writers is a Sun sign Virgo with his Moon in wise Sagittarius, and he has a very late Cancerian Ascendant. The Sun and Moon combined give an expansive and adventurous edge, to a more detailed & orderly character. Stephen will need to explore & to be knowledgeable, and he does this by forever refining & perfecting his craft. We find the Virgo Sun quite naturally for a novelist in the 3rd house of communication. The Sun is part of a wider stellium, with Venus and Neptune also in the 3rd house in Libra and Mercury just into the 4th also in the sign of the scales.
The Virgo Sun is always a bit nervous, a worrier, someone who is obsessed by details and correctness. Virgo, love to organize to categorize and are sticklers for the facts. Along with these Virgo traits, this is a kind gentle man with a wonderful imagination. The influence of Venus and Neptune to the Sun gives colour and beauty to the mind. As a child Stephen would have been a dreamer, someone who loved harmony and hated discord and disagreement. He will go to any length to sort out a problem and bring things back to equilibrium. He will be someone who values his friends & friendships highly, and will thoroughly enjoy their company. Bringing all this together and we have someone who can see a story in his mind, he is interested in the minute details, he is socially orientated and concentrates on the structure of his creations. These he needs to communicate because of the third house influence. Stephen early on found a way of doing this, through writing novels.
Mercury, connected to the other three planets is in the 4th house, gives him a love of books, history, psychology and research. This location for Mercury is quite insular and reserved and he will love nothing better than curling up on the sofa and reading a book, indeed he will read as much as he writes. Mercury in Libra can see both sides of any issue, has tact and considerable business acumen, this is the placement of the negotiator and is one of the main reasons for his longevity in the cutthroat world of writing, along of course with the quality of his work. This stellium is one of the bases for a very creative kite formation in Stephen’s chart. It forms an opposition with his Midheaven. Through this set of aspects you can see the link of creative writing and the love of books to his career. His need to communicate through his is work is obsessive, shown by the tight quindecile between his Sun and the Midheaven. At the corners of the kite formation, we find Saturn and Pluto in conjunction in the 1st house and the Moon on the 5th.
The Saturn and Pluto conjunction in Leo in the first house, is the other reason why Stephen has been so successful. Saturn in the first contributes a serious ambition to the personality and to his work. Stephen will naturally be a bit shy and reserved, and will present a stern face to the world. Shy he may be, but a man determined to make his mark on the world. Pluto in the first is hugely determined and intense, often those with Pluto here are rather difficult to get on with, you either love them or you hate them. Together Saturn and Pluto can reach any height, achieve any goal if you use the energy properly, and this he has done. Stephen is a prolific writer and always will be until he has no more energy to lift a pen (or type into a keyboard). On the other side of the kite lies the Moon in Sagittarius the 5th house of creativity. Here is big, wide expansive store of emotion. This an very expressive position combined with child like enthusiasm, where the feelings are shown for all to see. Stephen will use this expression and expansive reach to paint the pictures in his mind and translate them onto the page. With the Moon in the fifth, we go on long adventures and journeys, seek out challenges and new experiences and travel to far away places.
There is another formation on this chart, a mini grand trine based around a Jupiter and Mars conjunct the Ascendant trine with Sun and Venus at the point. This is a very self-confident formation with belief in ones ability, but is also very private too. Mars conjunct the Ascendant in Cancer from the 12th is very non-aggressive and a bit insular, except if Stephen’s family or loved ones were threatened. Then suddenly you would see Stephen react. He will be very protective of his wife and kids, and his house will very much be his castle.
Jupiter in Scorpio is very matter of fact and will not settle for any superficiality in life. Here one can plumb the depths of the psyche, going deep, exploring mysteries and the unknown. Here is the drive to understand everything and be master of it. Indeed the location of Scorpio on the cusp of the 5th house along with Pluto it’s ruler sitting in the first explains exactly why this mild mannered, polite and gentle man writes so wonderfully about horror. The Pluto and Scorpio angle is macabre, evil, fascinated by the occult, death and all underground and taboo subjects, and Jupiter encourages him to read and to learn as much as he can about this so that he can reach the level of detail that his Virgo Sun requires. Jupiter makes a wide square to the Saturn/Pluto conjunction which allows Stephen to exploit to the full the business potential of his creations. He has turned his hand to screenwriting, television producing, anything where his energy can be used behind the scenes, reflecting the position of Mars, the prime energy source on the chart hidden away in the 12th house. You often find people with a 12th house Mars working away out of the general public’s gaze. Jupiter in the 5th in Scorpio will give him a keen sense of competition and a love of sport. He loves baseball, and is a keen follower and fan of his beloved Boston Red Sox.
Finally, I move to Uranus in the 11th house which sits square to the Sun and Venus. This is the impulsive restless side to Stephen, the connection which add a bit of sparkle and genius to his writing. Uranus sits in Gemini, the sign of communication and this connection maybe explains why he has risen to the top. Maybe it is an inventive turn of phrase or the sense of spontaneity, adventure and surprise, being able to transport you into the world that he has created that sets his novels apart from other writers in his genre. The square also describes the impetuosity of his father, who left his wife when Stephen was but 2 years old. With Jupiter closely conjunct to the Nodal Axis via a close conjunction with the South Node, Stephen’s Mother would have showered him with love and generosity. Often out of adversity a true star is born, determined to make up and prove the doubters wrong. I suspect the horror and instability that Stephen faced as a youngster stayed with him and propelled him on to become a worldwide name, and a truly great author.
Happy Birthday, Stephen King…
