Tom Cruise has been shockingly open in recent interviews about his abusive father. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that he is promoting his new movie Mission Impossible III. For someone who has made a habit of filing lawsuits any time the press started delving into his personal life, Tom has been amazingly candid lately. From his sofa jumping on the Oprah show to public displays of affection everywhere since his relationship with Katie Holmes began, Tom Cruise appears to be opening up in a brand new way. But is he really?

A recent interview in Parade Magazine exposes some previously unknown facts about Mr. Cruise. Now 5’7″, he was a small child and bullied both at home and at school. He was unable to read and forced into separate classes, causing him to feel excluded and lonely. His reading disability was diagnosed as dyslexia, but he says “labels don’t mean anything.” Parade Magazine quotes contemporaries of Tom during his high school years as being “angry, muscular, intense, obsessed with success.” Tom later became involved in Scientology, probably as a way to manage his emotions. Scientology teaches the power of rational thought, and there is no doubt that Tom has successfully channeled his energies and emotions in a way that has brought him great success.

Tom Cruise was born with the Sun in Cancer, the sensitive sign of the soft shell crab. Cancers are primarily concerned with family, with taking care of others. It’s a sensitive and emotional sign that strongly needs to be nurtured, which is challenging for a man in our society. Cancerian people who do not receive that nurturing at an early age or later in life tend to build a hard crusty shell, just like the crab does, to protect the sensitive inner being. We don’t know Tom’s birth time, but is Moon is either in Leo (if born in the afternoon/evening) or Cancer (if born in the morning). The Moon shows our deep inner drive and can be difficult to perceive in people we don’t know well, but if Tom’s Moon was in Cancer his emotional focus would be on family. Clearly his emotional focus is on his career, and the Moon in Leo has a strong need to be admired and celebrated, commonly found in the charts of actors. That need for publicity and press (Leo) conflicts with the need for a quiet home life surrounded by loved ones (Cancer) and could account for Cruise’s apparent conflict between his need for publicity and his tendency towards filing lawsuits to protect his privacy.

This Moon in Leo is opposed by Saturn, which is retrograde in his chart. Saturn shows where we feel insecure and a lack of self-worth, and when retrograde that inner voice of self-doubt is turned within. Saturn retrograde people are strongly self critical and the stressful combination of a strong Saturn insecurity (Saturn Rx) opposed to the Leo need for admiration can create a personality that is driven towards success in order to prove oneself.

Tom’s Mars (aggressive urge and drive) is in the fixed earth sign of Taurus the bull, showing he has tenacity and a tendency to be bullheaded. Mars in Taurus can’t be easily pushed around, they are stubborn to the max and difficult to dissuade once they have set their course. However, Uranus (planet of rebellion and innovation) is square to his Mars, giving him an extreme restlessness that can be uncomfortable for the Taurus Mars that prefers serenity, possibly resulting in mood swings and periods of internal distress. Uranus has an electrical quality and can be difficult on the nervous system when in challenging aspect.

His Mercury is in Gemini, showing someone who is quite talkative and curious about all things. Gemini likes to try on different roles, making it a good placement for an actor. Venus in his chart is in Leo, which explains his very showy (Leo) treatment of his ladies, at least in the beginning. Saturn in his chart is also widely (9.5 degrees) opposite Venus, showing tension in his relationships and a great deal of criticism both of himself (Saturn Rx) and his partners (Venus).

Tom has a tight conjunction of Chiron (healing and wisdom) to Jupiter (opportunity and philosophy), and both are retrograde. The combination of these two planets indicates a person who is drawn to healing philosophies and who may have experienced an early wound (Chiron) around religion and philosophy (Jupiter), possibly in Catholic schools as a child. We know that he at one point thought of entering the Catholic priesthood but later joined the Church of Scientology. The Chiron/Jupiter conjunction is opposed by Pluto (god of transformation and destruction) in his chart. Pluto opposing Jupiter is often a placement of power (Pluto) struggles and self-righteous dogmatism (Jupiter), and with Chiron involved there is a constant and painful irritation that creates a need for continual change and transformation. We have certainly seen Tom Cruise’s tendency to be dogmatic and self-righteous over the past year in his lack of sensitivity to the problems of others. This is usually a sign of someone who is hiding from their own emotional difficulties under the guise of healing themselves.

Tom Cruise has a very tight Grand Trine (with three planets all trine each other) involving his Sun in Cancer, Neptune in Scorpio, and Chiron in Pisces, all water signs. Grand trines in water tend to facilitate the flow of one’s emotions and proffers a vivid imagination which can be easily expressed. For some, a Grand Trine in water can sap one’s energies as life is sometimes too flowing with this placement and there is often a lack of direction. But for Cruise, the more challenging aspects also provide a dynamic element that enables him to energize his imagination and use it for his benefit.

Beginning last year and coinciding with the start of his relationship with Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise began a series of challenging transits. We don’t know exactly where his Moon is, but transiting Chiron has likely been making a square to his Moon over the past year, dredging up old wounds and causing him to need distractions from his pain. At the same time he has been going through multiple transits of Uranus, shaking up his reality and causing him to explore something totally different. Rumors are flying about the possibility of his marriage and the impending birth of his baby, but Uranus transits typically create situations that do not lend themselves to that kind of commitment. Cruise will begin a challenging transit of Saturn to his Venus and Mercury in September which may bring a greater level of commitment in his life. Meanwhile, the more he puts himself in the public eye to promote his films, the harder it will be for him to hide from himself.