Even without a properly documented time of birth, an astrologer can spot times of trouble coming. A recent example of this is Alec Baldwin, who is having more than his fair share of Jupiter and Uranus issues of late. For those of you who follow celebrity gossip (and yes, I’m just as ashamed of that sort of thing as you are), you are already up to date on the drama Alec Baldwin is facing in his personal life. Even if you aren’t, the case of Alec Baldwin and his bad eclipses are instructive.

The effects of an eclipse linger beyond the actual event itself, charging that point in a birth chart until some other factor triggers it… and Alec (born April 3, 1958, time unknown, Massapequa, NY) is currently feeling the effects of October and November’s eclipses. So perhaps now might be a good time to go back and look at those eclipses and see how they’re affecting you too. Something could be lurking in wait there yet.

For the October eclipse, I wrote:

If you are Miley Cyrus, or born late November 1992: This Eclipse is closely square your Mars in late Cancer. Be careful who you lash out at, where you lash out at, and where and how you invest your sexuality.

That’s because the eclipse was squaring 27 Cancer, where Miley has her Mars. Now obviously Alec Baldwin isn’t Miley, but 27 Libra is (closely conjunct the eclipse) where Alec has his Jupiter, which is the general ruler of marital bliss (or the lack thereof). The October eclipse landed right on top of that Jupiter. His stalker has just been sentenced to 6 months in jail for her post-possible-relationship nuttiness, but what effect is this likely to have on Baldwin’s marriage? Perhaps we’ll find out when Saturn is square his Venus around time time next year… just like it was when he separated from Kim Basinger in late 2000.

As for the November eclipse, I wrote:

March 1958-June 1960 or September 1977-November 1978: Sometimes restraints are in place so you won’t hurt yourself, and sometimes it’s because someone else put you in them for their own convenience. Either way, a degree of co-operation on your part may have been involved. Figure out who’s to blame before you lash out, okay?

…And sure enough, Alec got into trouble for using an allegedly homophobic slur about a photographer, on the day Pluto went stationary opposite his Pluto and trine his natal Neptune… so naturally he slipped up and let his temper out in a way that denies a lot of things he very publicly stands for. Ouch.

Now, you may be thinking “hey, that’s kind of general”… and you’d have a point. But the same eclipse tripping off that age group also had a specific effect on Alec, squaring his Mars. Mars is the place in the chart where you keep your temper, and a square stimulates it in much the same way that “just one more espresso” can stimulate an already-frustrated boss who is about to talk to you about your job performance, and not in a good way. Alec appears to be sensitive to things going wrong publicly for him when his Mars is involved: it was in April 2007 that he made a cranky phone call to his daughter and left a voice message berating her that soon went public… during his Solar Return, while Chiron was conjunct his Mars. Ouch, again.

Is Alec’s temper likely to be an issue for him in future? Probably. Just as importantly: will his (perhaps) slightly inflated Sun/Ego and sense of self importance do him any harm? Perhaps around this time or a little later next year, when the Uranus-Pluto square is exactly conjunct and square his Sun.

Is all of this likely to do his marriage much good? Probably not: in fact, it was another Uranus transit (conjunct his Mars) that lead to his break up with Kim Basinger in 2000 (alongside the aforementioned Saturn transit)… and that happened without the added pressures of having to put off wild accusations from a stalker or more bad public behavior.

(Also: were those accusations so “wild”? A friend of Alec’s testified it really happened. Just sayin’.)

So, Alec, if you’re out there: give me a call. It’s my job to spot these things in advance and give you a chance to avoid them. I’d hate to see you in the news again over your troubled personal life again. And in the meantime… calm down!