I’m teaching an online course in Introductory Astrology, and as part of that course I have put up the chart of a number of famous people, but without the names attached. Purely by coincidence (yeah, I hear you in the back about “there are no coincidences”) one of those charts happens to be of someone who has been in the news recently: Christopher Lee, who died at the age of 93 this week.
Christopher Lee was one of a number of icons for me during my teen years. I really can’t say much here that you probably haven’t already read elsewhere. There is much to praise about him beyond simply his acting. He was by all accounts a decent guy in person…. even if he was better known for playing vampires and killers and villains and evil wizards and Sith and such.
In my astrology class I have a good reason to keep those celebrity charts anonymous – so that my students can learn how to read a chart as opposed to simply seeing the things in a chart that reinforce their own opinions about a person. But now seems like a good time to reveal Christopher Lee’s identity and have a look at his birth chart. He was amazing person who led an amazing life, and it is all reflected in the astrology.
If you’ve never had a reading yourself, this will also give you an opportunity to see how an astrologer take that big mass of symbols on the lines and numbers and breaks it down into something meaningful. Here is Christopher Lee’s chart:
Even with just the relatively few things we’ve learned in the class thus far, some things stand out.
Sun Moon and Mercury in the 9th house in Gemini: Yes, that’s a heck of a lot of Gemini there. He was of course a natural-born communicator, and certainly acting is a form of communication. He could also sing by the way, releasing a few heavy metal albums (c’mon it’s Christopher Lee, what did you expect… children’s songs?).
Jupiter conjunct Saturn in Libra near the Ascendant: You might expect someone with all that Gemini to come across as a little scattered, but nothing stabilizes your presentation like having Saturn on the Ascendant. There can often be something a little sinister or intimidating about people with Saturn on the ascendant, and Christopher Lee was certainly able to use that to full effect playing the many villainous rules he found himself in.
Having Jupiter there certainly softens the blow and lends a lot of charm to the whole package. Since Libra is the sign of Saturn’s exaltation, and since his Saturn is closer to the ascendant than Jupiter, you might say that his Saturn is easier to see at first glance when you meet him, and that it manifested in an appealing manner. It’s also interesting to note that Jupiter is the ruler of Christopher’s Third House, which rule things like how your mind works and how you speak. Let’s be honest here: the man had an absolutely classic speaking voice. Also noteworthy? Sagittarius has a reputation for being good with languages, especially Sagittarius on the Third House cusp. Christopher was fluent or conversant in at least six languages.
Mars in Sagittarius opposite Moon and Mercury: this guy had a lot of physical energy. In past I have written here about people with a strongly-aspected Mars in their charts who are noted for being violent, like George Zimmerman or Chris Brown.
So how did Christopher Lee use his Mars energy? Well, in World War 2 he joined the Air Force but was unable to fly due to a problem with his optic nerve (Mars opposite Moon and/or Mercury can make for difficulties with eyesight). So instead he joined what would later be called the OSS, and eventually joined a special commando unit that Winston Churchill called the “Department of Ungentlemanly Warfare.” Christopher was sworn in to secrecy as to his activities, so we don’t know the full details of what he did during the Second World War. But we do know that his unit was responsible for commando raids that, among other things, disabled the Nazis largest nuclear research facility , and that he received awards for his bravery from Britain Poland Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
“I’ve seen many men die right in front of me – so many in fact that I’ve become almost hardened to it. Having seen the worst that human beings can do to each other, the results of torture, mutilation and seeing someone blown to pieces by a bomb, you develop a kind of shell. But you had to. You had to. Otherwise we would never have won.”
He was also pretty good with a sword.
So just out of curiosity: what did you achieve with your Mars by the age of 25?
Mars was also the ruler of Christopher Lee’s 7th House, which is marriage and committed relationships. A multiple Gemini with his 7th house ruler in Sagittarius who is also an actor should… if we just go by the clichés… be a terrible risk for a long-term committed relationship.
In fact he married his wife in 1961 and they were happily together until his death. Take that, clichés!
…And those are just a few of the basics of Christopher Lee’s astrological birth chart based on some of the stuff we’ve already covered in the class, and we’re not even halfway done yet. He was truly an amazing man, and not just because he blew my mind when I was a child. But he did.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful life with us Christopher Lee. And thanks for all those sleepless night you gave me when I was a kid.
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