Pluto Pounds Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby is current embroiled in a public relations nightmare. A number of women have come forward claiming that the comic legend subjected them to unwanted sexual contact, in some instances after drugging them. Most people read these allegations and wonder if they are true, if their assessment of this beloved television icon has been horribly mistaken. Astrologers, on the other hand, wonder what’s going on in the Cosby’s horoscope.
First, let’s take a quick glance at Cosby’s natal chart. (Click here to see the horoscope.) The fact that he has become such a popular figure is immediately explained by the presence of benevolent Jupiter in the Tenth House. Planets in the Tenth show us how a person is perceived by the public at large, and having Jupiter there tells us that our perception of Cosby will always be slanted toward the positive.
At the same time, Cosby’s Jupiter is opposed to his Cancer Sun, which is in the Fourth House. His jolly, gregarious, warm-heart public image comes at a cost. There is a secret side to Bill Cosby that is sensitive, emotionally vulnerable and closed off from the world.
Cosby’s horoscope pairs a Virgo Moon sign with his Cancer Sun Sign. In my book, “Father Sun, Mother Moon: Astrology’s Dynamic Duo” I say of this combination, “You feel at odds with strong emotions that rule your heart.” Bill Cosby the comedian turns the clear-headed perceptions of his Virgo Moon to create humor, and uses that humor to shield his needy Cancer Sun. It this way his has achieved a tenuous balance between the intense emotionalism of Cancer and the earthy rationality of Virgo.
Cosby’s Mars/Venus combination is a rare one: Mars in Scorpio with Venus in Gemini. In the Mars and Venus Playbook we call that “The Impish Powerhouse of Passion.” Scorpios don’t typically like to talk about their sexuality, and Cosby stands out among modern comics for his avoidance of sexual references and vulgarity. Scorpios are so prone to keep their sex lives private because their passions run deep. They have strong sex drives, but understand better that most people how the power of these erotic passions can lead to obsessive, dangerous and even destructive behavior.
Venus in Gemini, on the other hand, likes to play around. It likes to experiment and seeks variety. The disparity between these two sexual planets is a dangerous thing. It invites aberrant behavior. Even if the allegations against Cosby are not true, it is obviously from this combination of Mars and Venus that he would have difficulty satisfying both his Mars in Scorpio need to control sex, and his Venus in Gemini curiosity about sex.
What going on in Cosby’s horoscope right now is that Pluto is moving across his Midheaven. Pluto has a way of digging out secrets that have been buried so deep and so long that even we might have forgotten about them. It demands transformation, not necessarily on a material, observable level, but on a deep, emotional and psychological level. In other words it demands a transformation that involves a lot of hard labor and pain.
Cosby’s problems have been brewing since 2004, (during Saturn’s transit of his I.C.) when he was sued by a woman claiming she had been molested by the comedian. That suit was settled out of court, but not before the claimant’s lawyer had gathered promises to testify from 13 other women who had had similar experiences with Cosby.
Cosby's Pluto transit began in early 2013. In early 2014 two of the woman involved in the law suit gave interviews to a prominent newspaper. Meanwhile, Cosby’s staff began using twitter promoting a new television show that he was to star in. These promotions backfired with the women involved in the case began sending out their own tweets, calling Cosby a rapist.
The good news for Cosby is that Pluto is moving currently moving away for his Midheaven, so it would seem the pressure on him has reached its peak. There has been no criminal prosecutions resulting from these complaints, and the only witnesses are Cosby and the women involved. (The classic “he said, she said” scenario.) However, since these problem began with a transit in the Saturn Cycle (about which I write in my book “Saturn Cycles: Mapping the Changes in Your Life”) they are not likely to be resolved until Cosby’s next Saturn cycle aspect, which will occur in 2018.
