I didn’t want to write about Charlie Sheen in the middle of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan when Uranus entered Aries, or when Neptune entered Pisces, equally big news from an astrological perspective, or when Pluto turned retrograde this weekend. But now that things are settling down a little astrologically I think it’s time for a little comic relief in the form of a look at the astrology of Charlie Sheen.  

In 2009, when Sheen was arrested for threatening his then-wife with a knife, I wrote this profile:

Charlie Sheen is one of those “radical Virgos” whose dramatic behavior belie the typical characteristics of the Virgo Sun sign whose natives tend to be rather reticent and modest.  You would never think of a Virgo as having a penchant for porn and gambling.

Sheen is one of the “Uranus/Pluto” generation who were born between 1962 and 1968 when Uranus (radical change) and Pluto (death and rebirth) were conjunct in the sky.  This entire generation has a thirst for breaking down barriers (Uranus) in order to rebuild something that has become stale and dysfunctional (Pluto), and for Sheen this hunger is even more intense because his Sun is a part of that conjunction.  In addition, Chiron (emotional wounding and sensitivity) is conjunct oppressive Saturn in his chart, signifying a deep well of emotional pain within him that never quite disappears.  This is a powerful combination of planets that require a fair amount of self-understanding to master, and sometimes that process takes a lifetime.

Sheen’s Moon is part of this configuration, and it falls in the expansive and happy-go-lucky sign of Sagittarius.  This complicates matters for Sheen, since it makes it more difficult to do the solid emotional work that a conjunction of Saturn to Chiron demands.  The Sagittarius Moon often prefers to take the easy way out and flee the scene rather than dig into the dirt of the emotional stress that follows him everywhere.

Sheen’s sexuality is evident in the chart with Mars, planet of aggression and desire, in the sign of Scorpio which is an intensely sexual sign.  The sexuality of Scorpio is intense and dramatic and not at all polite.  Mars is the ancient ruler of Scorpio and represents the pure desire found in that sign, but Scorpio’s modern ruler is Pluto, awakening the individual to the call of the Soul that lies within the purely physical desire.  Individuals with Mars in Scorpio are really seeking the Soul through the act of sex, although that isn’t always evident to them. This need to go deeper through sexuality is also seen in the fact that Sheen’s Sagittarius Moon falls in the Eighth House of Scorpio.

This duality is complicated even further by Gemini on the ascendant.  Gemini is famous for experimentation and flirtation, and even though a part of Sheen’s psyche craves the intense dramatic sexuality that a porn star can probably deliver, another part of him desires the freedom to be able to pass through many different experiences (Gemini ascendant) while keeping his heart free (Sagittarian Moon).  At the same time his Virgo Sun craves order and respectability, yet it conjoins Uranus and Pluto which instills an intensely rebellious nature.

Sheen is a complex array of personalities locked up in one human being.  As an actor, he is able to identify with each of the different parts of himself through the roles that he plays, but at a certain point he has to figure out who he himself really is.

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Over the past year and some months since I wrote this, the fragmentation of Charlie Sheen’s personality has become that much more evident and has coincided with the movement of Sheen’s progressed Mars into an exact square to his natal Sun.  The progressed chart shows our ongoing evolution as the chart is progressed through time.  Mars often acts as a trigger for important events because it’s fiery nature tends to activate an evolving dynamic that might otherwise take a longer time to unfold.  We can look at this as if Charlie’s current drive for power and desire (Mars) is in conflict with the core of his identity (Sun).

Remember the Sun is part of a complex system that includes Uranus and Pluto, so as his progressed Mars gets closer to aspecting his natal Sun it is also beginning to affect Uranus and Pluto, the planets of radical and sudden transformation, with the force of a rocket ship.    The tour that Sheen has embarked on is aptly named as “My violent torpedo of truth.”

Psychologists hypothesize that the apparent insanity that Sheen is currently exhibiting is a form of “hypomania,” a more moderate form of the kind of mania exhibited by bipolar individuals.  Sheen has not behaved in this manner before, but the astrological analysis suggests that a part of himself that has remained hidden is exploding into consciousness with the trigger of the movement of progressed Mars.

Meanwhile, transiting Chiron and Neptune have been in 90 degree aspect, or square, to Sheen’s ascendant – his persona, the way he presents himself to the world.  Here again we see the perfect exhibit for this in the form of his world tour, in which his fan base has paid for the opportunity to watch him self-destruct, and event that occurred as transiting Saturn formed a square to his progressed ascendant.  Fans who paid to see the show report that Sheen seems genuinely shocked at the boos and hisses that are delivered from the audience – in the Neptunian fog it is difficult for him to see clearly who he is, but the influence of Chiron requires that he come face to face with the demons so that they can be healed.

This progressed Mars will remain a trigger for the next five years, which will hopefully motivate him into action to start to take care of the details of his life.  The average person would not have the luxury of self-indulgence that Sheen has been allowed and would likely have been forced to make repairs to his life by now.  Perhaps the mirror of Sheen’s fans saying things like “Sheen’s show was worse than Chernobyl” will force him to wake up and begin to repair his broken life.