John Lennon 25 Years Later

5:17 PM 12/8/05 Thu

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the death of John Lennon, killed
at the hands of a crazed fan, Mark David Chapman. As I type this,
all manner of retrospectives and the like are airing on radio, TV
and the internet about the life and times of one of the most famous
people ever to walk the Earth.

As always, Lennon's life and Vedic chart proves a good case study
for those of us who wish to glean Jyotish's insights:

John Lennon Oct 9 1940 6.30PM BST Liverpool, England/UK; Lahiri 26
Pis 40.

Lennon was born with Pisces on the Asc, a Sign associated with
artistry, mysticism and, when other factors are involved, drugs. It
is well known that Lennon, along with the rest of the Beatles were
quite heavily into drugs, and of course, their musical contributions
speak for themselves. Note the strong influence of Ketu on the Lagna
(Ascendant), which, as one half of the serpent-being who tried to
steal the drink of immortality, represents all forms of intoxicants.

Looking a bit closely at Lennon's chart though, speaks strongly as
to his longevity; right off the bat we can see that his lifespan
would not be long.

I say that because Jupiter, Lennon's Asc Lord, is both Rx and in
tight conjunction with Saturn in the 2nd House. Saturn is not only
debilitated in Aries, but in DEEP debilitation at that; in the 2nd
House, this combination accounts for many of Lennon's gaffes,
particularly the "We're more famous than Jesus" remark. Very often,
people with strong 2nd House challenges tend to make remarks they
shouldn't utter within public earshot.

For any chart, the Asc Lord is the most important planet; its
condition and participation in planetary yogas with other planets
will very often tell the tale as to the overall life chances of the
native. In Lennon's case, with the Asc Lord so very weakened, we
would have to say that Lenno's health would be in question.

But with his Moon in the 11th House of Groups - in this case, The
Beatles - we can see where his fame came from. The Moon forms a Gaja
Kersari Yoga, and from the Moon we see that Saturn, which is Lagnesh
from the Moon, has attained Neechabhanga status. Moreover, again
from the Moon, Mercury, which is the 9th Lord, is in the 10th and
aspects Saturn.

As a rule, a singer/artist needs a strong 3rd House, for this House
represents such areas of life; in Lennon's case, from the birth Asc,
we see that Venus rules his 3rd and is aspected by Lagnesh
Jupiter. "The arts" is an easy theme to see in this horoscope.

What is very noticeable in Lennon's chart is the very, very, very,
VERY stressed out 7th House; not only does he have Kuja Dosha but he
also has the Sun and Rahu in the 78th as well. On top of that,
Venus, which represents relationships and marriage in general, is
placed in one of the worst Houses in a Vedic chart, the 6th, AND in
one of its worst Sign placements, Leo. All of these markers suggest
at the very least, a turbulent state of affairs with regard to
marriage, if not worse. Lennon's chart stands as a vivid example of
just how Kuja Dosha works in a chart - first of all, Mars in and of
itself placed in the 7th House will not bring about the destruction
of a marriage; much depends on whether the native is a man or woman,
as well as to the inherent condition of Mars in the particular
chart. But even IF Mars is placed in a bad way in someone's chart,
the 7th House has to be severely challenged in order for all of the
textbook problems associated with Kuja Dosha to truly manifest. With
3 first rate malefics in the 7th House (the Sun, Rahu and Mars),
with Mars in the 7th House in the chart of a man and with Mars in
the Sign of an Enemy, we can see why Lennon had a disasterous
previous marriage before he met Yoko Ono - and even then, they went
through a period of seperation.

This 7th House situation also speaks very well to Lennon's dislike
of Paul McCartney; the other night, I happened to hear a previously
unreleased interview with Lennon in 1970, right after the breakup of
the Beatles. During the interview Lennon made it very clear that not
only did he work with McCartney often if at all, but that he didn't
like him much either. The 7th House represents "marriages" of all
kinds - personal/romantic/sexual, and business as well.

Note that the 7th Lord Mercury is placed in the 8th House, while
Venus, the 8th Lord, is placed in the 6th. This is a very difficult
chart for marriage and relationships, no matter how you slice it.

The entire decade of the 1960s saw tremendous success for Lennon
and the rest of the Beatles; at the time, Lennon was having Venus
Dasa. Note the YK status of Venus from the Moon, as well as the 3rd
House tie-ins from both the Asc and the Moon.

Lennon met and married Yoko Ono toward the end of his Venus Dasa in
the late 1960s; the Mercury sub period was running at the time of
his marriage to Ono. Mercury rules the 7th.

At the time Lennon was killed, he was in his Moon Dasa. This in
itself wouldn't make one think "death" - but - when we consider the
fact that Lennon's sub period of Jupiter came in ONE DAY BEFORE he
was shot to death, it all makes perfect sense. Remember what I said
above about the importance of the Asc Lord? Very often, in the
charts of people who's lives are shortened, the Lagnesh is usually
very weakened in some way. At the very least, even if they don't die
when the periods of their ruling planets are in operation, they can
expect protracted periods of illness, etc. Note too that Jupiter
rules the 12th House from the Moon. Loss. Note too that Jupiter
along with debilitated Saturn aspects the 8th House of Death.

Salaam,
Mu