Below is Mohamed’s birth chart. We don’t have a birth time which is a shame as a lot of crucial detail is lost by not having it, but the basic outline of his character and thus his motivations remain.
Mohamed’s Aries Sun was square to Jupiter and trine to Uranus which gave him an independent streak, generosity and an optimism to succeed in life, however he would struggle with limitations imposed on him. His Moon in gentle Pisces bestowed a kind and sympathetic nature, however beneath was a far deeper intensity. Normally those with Aries Suns are full of vim and vigour, however an Aries Sun with a Piscean Moon dissipates all that energy, the need to be first is not so prevalent but rather the need for ideal is what he will search for. This Pisces Moon really smoulders with intensity as it trines Pluto in Scorpio. The Moon/Pluto trine formed a grand mini trine with Neptune in Capricorn at the point. Here was the signature of this ideal, the ultimate (Pluto) sacrifice (Neptune) to show the authorities (Capricorn). This Neptune was also at the point of a wedge formation feeding out to a Pluto/Mercury opposition. This is a quite difficult aspect as Mohamed would have questioned everyone’s motives, not trusting anyone, feeling paranoid. He would have had powerful convictions and would have wanted to prove a point. He certainly did that!!
Mohamed’s Saturn was retrograde suggesting that he missed the love of his father through his childhood. True enough, Mohamed’s father passed away when he was just 3 years of age. Even though his mother remarried, Mohamed at the age of 10 became the principle breadwinner in his family due to the ill health of his stepdad. Life must have been hard as he towed his barrow 2km each day to town laden with fruit & vegetables to sell, so that he and his family could earn enough money to exist. He would have been an hard willing worker, with a Saturn sextile Jupiter and generous with it too. Venus in Pisces is very gentle and selfless allowing those he loved to become overly dependent on his actions. This generosity and selflessness is accentuated by the Jupiter square to the Sun, he would have kept optimistic throughout any troubles looking after those in need even if he had little himself, although anyone limiting his actions would have been hard for him to deal with. How would he have reacted if someone curtailed his business, thus threatening his ability to look after his loved ones? Look to Mars and the answer was there. Lying beneath that gentle exterior was a peregrine (unconnected to any other planet by major aspect) Mars in vengeful Scorpio. That Mars would harbour a fierce “I’ll show you at any cost” temper.
I understand that throughout his life, Mohamed had been subject to intimidation from the local police, being made to feel totally inadequate, and it was after one such incident when he was fined for selling without a license and having his scales and produce confiscated that his patience finally snapped. He went to the local administrator to complain, however no-one there was available to hear it. At around 11.30am on 17th Dec 10 having bought a can of petrol and in front of the administration building in Sidi BouZid probably angry and confused, he carried out the ultimate sacrifice; the act that had been lying in wait 26 years on his chart since his birth – he set fire to himself. Looking at the transit chart for that moment, the Uranus/Jupiter conjunction (having the belief to rebel) that had been one of the signatures of the recent uprisings was trine his natal peregrine Mars in Scorpio and square to Mars was transiting Neptune, the planet of sacrifice. Transiting Mars was square his Aries Sun making him feel angry, and transiting Mercury was exactly conjunct his impressionable Neptune causing confusion. In the background looking at his Solar Arc chart for the day, Mohamed had Solar Arc Pluto almost exactly conjunct his stand alone Mars in Scorpio as well as having Solar Arc Neptune being sextile to natal Mars, a mirror of what was happening on the transit chart. Under all this planetary pressure, he vented the anger and rebellion inside him the only way he knew.
The suicide attempt provoked an uprising in the local community outraged that a popular young man had been treated in such a fashion. As anger grew and in a vain attempt to stem the rising tide of disaffection against his rule, President Ben Ali visited Mohamed in hospital (above). It was to no avail as the protests grew in size across Tunisia. Mohamed died on the 4th January of his burns and injuries, the day of the Solar Eclipse I mentioned before (see link below). The eclipse landed on his natal Jupiter. Natal Jupiter hit by a solar eclipse can be associated with spiritual enlightenment, a belief that you cannot fail, it has an international flavour across nations and boundaries, an influence beyond one’s normal environment. Also at that eclipse degree was the transiting Mars/Pluto midpoint (Mars representing the action of setting himself on fire – Mars rules Aries, the archetypal fire sign/Pluto represents a sacrifice, death and regeneration). Mohamed’s actions and his legacy encapsulated in the heavens; for him it signified martyrdom, and immortality right across the Arab world.
Please also see :-Tunisia & Egypt revolutions - Seeds sown by a Solar Eclipse...
