Astrology at Work: Charles Lindbergh
In 1927 Charles Lindbergh was the perfect American hero. He was tall and lean, boyishly blue-eyed and handsome, with a flat, mid-Western accent and a quiet, unassuming demeanor. He was an Aquarian by Sun sign and he had the Moon in adventurous Sagittarius, so it was no surprise that he was willing to attempt something that had never been done before. And silent Scorpio was on his Ascendant, so he kept his thoughts and feelings to himself. (Click on Charles Lindbergh to see his horoscope.)
When Lindbergh made his historic trans-Atlantic flight in 1927, landing in an airfield outside Paris on May 21, the aspects to his natal chart were very much what any astrologer would have expected. In his secondary progressed horoscope the Sun was moving close to his natal I.C. Anytime the progressed Sun crosses an angle in the horoscope, there is possibility of some sort of notoriety. We all don’t get famous, of course, but we can still expect to experience a positive turn.
Supporting this secondary progress aspect, Lindbergh had a couple of very positive transiting aspects on May 21. Transiting Neptune was trine his natal Moon, and the transiting Sun was trine his natal Jupiter. Taken together, these aspects describe a dream come true, and an impending celebration. At the hour that Lindbergh was setting his plane down in France, the Moon was moving into a conjunction with his Jupiter, and trine to the transiting Sun.
Obviously, Lindbergh had a horoscope that was primed for glory, but there was one hitch. Transiting Mars was opposite his natal Saturn. This is an aspect of trouble and pain. If it weren’t for all the positive aspects impacting Lindbergh’s horoscope that night, it might have indicated a mechanical failure with dire results. But certainly it tells us that something is bound to go very wrong for this brave young man.
What went wrong for Charles Lindbergh was a direct result of everything that had good right for him. When he landed his plane, the soft-spoken young American was mobbed by excited Parisians. Over the next couple of days (while the Mars to Saturn aspect was in force) this man, who was most at home alone with his own thoughts in the cockpit of an airplane, got a crash course in what it meant to be the most famous person in the world. He had to learn how to speak to crowds of clamoring admirers and how to live with his every move being reported in the press.
Astrology does a lot of things, but it never lies. Aspects to the natal horoscope will have an impact on our lives and our consciousness. It may not be the impact we expect or desire, but it will be felt. So, even in the midst of a great victory, Charles Lindbergh found himself confronted with a major difficulty. To his credit (and thanks to his Mutable sign Moon) Lindbergh was able to adapt to his new celebrity lifestyle, and he accepted his new role as America’s heroic airman. But he never lost his distaste for it all, and that’s what made him the prefect American hero.
