Father Sun, Mother Moon (Part One)
In my book, Father Sun, Mother Moon: Astrology’s Dynamic Duo I describe the personalities of all 144 possible sign combinations of the Sun and the Moon. I thought it might be fun to revisit that book and discuss some people who demonstrate how our Sun sign and Moon sign can work together. Let’s start out with Robert Downey Jr. who has the Sun in Aries and the Moon in Taurus.
In the book I describe some of the positive qualities of each Sun sign, and some of the less than positive attributes. This is an excerpt from my description of the Sun in Aries:
“Life is more exciting when there’s an Aries person around. Aries folks are always active, always bubbling with new projects, new plans and extraordinary aspirations. And their energy, their optimism and their readiness to meet every challenge is contagious. It’s just about impossible to remain dull and complacent if you’re hanging out with an Aries person.”
The personality the Downey projects, both on the screen and in interviews, certainly fits this description. He is an energetic person. The fact that he is continuing to perform physically challenging roles in action movies into his late 40s is a good example of how Aries people respond to a challenge. The energy and optimism of Aries people often makes them seem much younger than their years.
When I describe the combination of the Sun in Aries with the Moon in Taurus in Father Sun, Mother Moon, I say:
“You are an ambitious, goal-oriented individual, but you also know how to relax. You are more self-indulgent than the typical Aries and willing to allow time in your life for pleasure. This can be a beneficial quality in the proper balance but, if this Taurus love of pleasure gets mixed in with the Aries taste for risky behavior, the results can be quite destructive.”
Everyone knows about Mr. Downey’s drug problem. It nearly ended his career a couple of decades ago and landed him in prison. The Moon in Taurus is not, in itself, an indicator of his addictive personality, but it set the stage. It made self-indulgence a means of protecting his emotional center.
Downey’s Moon is in a close opposition aspect with Neptune, an aspect that is frequently connected to drug and alcohol problems. Most astrologers would point to this, and other aspects in his horoscope (click here to see Downey’s complete chart) that lend themselves to self-destructive behavior. However, it was at the most basic level of his horoscope, the combination of the Sun and Moon, that Robert Downey’s strengths and weakness had their beginning.
Do you have the Sun in Aries with the Moon in Taurus? Do you know someone with this combination of the Sun and Moon? If you do, let me know what you think of my analysis. If you don't know your Moon sign, check out our link to Astrolabe.
