One real bane for astrologers is dirty data. We are constantly on the lookout for reliable uncontested birth times.
But we can’t even totally rely on some of the websites that publish the charts of famous people. Fortunately we have the Astrodatabank because this not only gives us the chart but also a code for how reliable the chart is.
If there is some doubt about the time, they will often publish a couple of possible charts and leave it up to the reader to decide which one is fitting.
It’s not always easy to tell which one is right though.
Musically the Autumn of 1970 was very significant for me as I approached my 16th birthday.
It also marked an important change of direction both for music and the world in general because Neptune changed signs from Scorpio to Sagittarius.
Neptune was in Scorpio from 1956 to 1970. This coincided with the era of rock and roll and the rise of pop music.
Its entry into Sagittarius seemed to mark a new direction. Popular music began to be a vehicle for the philosophical rather than something that was essentially about sex.
Progressive rock took hold in 1970 and much of it was informed by eastern mysticism.
The first real evidence of this was the release of George Harrison’s My Sweet Lord.
It became the biggest selling single of 1971.
I quickly realised that the Lord in question was not the same one that the guitar strumming nerds of the church youth groups that I had abandoned a couple of years before were asking to “ Kum Bay “.
George was my favourite Beatle so I quickly became fascinated by eastern religions, and that couple of years were the only truly atheistic ones of my life.
A quick look at the chart for the release date shows us why it had such an effect.
The exact Sun / Neptune conjunction in the 1st degree of Sagittarius shows the spiritual and cultural significance of this record.
The Moon / Pluto conjunction in Virgo shows its power.
Jupiter exactly conjunct the noon Midheaven points to its enormous success.
Just a few months earlier, another rock anthem was recorded with a classic Neptune in Scorpio theme.
Eric Clapton, another rock god of the sixties recorded Layla with his band Derek and the Dominoes. It was inspired by a love story that originated in 7th-century Arabia, the tale of a young man who fell hopelessly in love with a beautiful young girl, and went crazy because he could not marry her.
Eric identified with this story because of his secret love for George’s wife, Pattie Boyd.
The secret love theme is clearly evident in the chart with the Venus / Jupiter conjunction in Scorpio in the 12th house.
Neptune is in Scorpio conjunct the Ascendant showing the dream of possessing Layla which is thwarted by Saturn in the 7th house, because she is already married.
As further evidence of the Scorpio theme, the Moon is exactly square to Pluto.
Even the synastry between the two charts is interesting as the Layla Moon is exactly square the Lord Moon.
” In the late 1960s, Eric Clapton and George Harrison became close friends and began writing and recording music together. Clapton fell in love with Boyd at this time. In an effort to satisfy his infatuation, Clapton briefly dated Boyd’s sister Paula.
When Boyd rebuffed his advances in late 1970, Clapton descended into heroin addiction and self-imposed exile for three years.
Once cured of his addiction in 1974, which he claimed was helped by becoming a confirmed Christian, Clapton again pursued Boyd.
Harrison and Clapton staged a guitar “duel” over Boyd.
Pattie Boyd finally left Harrison and married Clapton in 1979. They remained close friends with Harrison, who took to calling Clapton his “husband-in-law”.
Eric Clapton was a supremely talented guitarist but he certainly had some issues.
In 1976 he ” provoked an uproar when he spoke out against increasing immigration during a concert in Birmingham. Visibly intoxicated on stage, Clapton voiced his support for the right-wing British politician Enoch Powell ” with a viciously racist diatribe, full of obscenities.
More recently he embraced Covid related conspiracy theories and has espoused some fairly unpleasant right wing views.
What kind of chart might we expect for Eric Clapton ?
Well the astrodatabank gives us two.
And
Both of these times have been provided by Clapton himself to astrologers.
But which is it ?
The Sun in Aries opposite Neptune apex Saturn in Cancer T Square is in both charts and this certainly describes an addictive, delusional character who is inclined to jump to reactionary, simplistic conclusions about life.
But does it fall in the 6th / 12th houses with the apex Saturn in the 9th ?
Or in the 1st / 7th with apex Saturn in the 5th ?
The first example might suggest his delusions are mostly religiously inspired.
The second would connect with his marital experience.
But of course the first chart has another T Square, the Moon in Scorpio in the 1st house opposite Venus in Taurus in the 7th house with an apex Pluto in the 10th.
This one seems to cover the relationship stuff as well.
Moon in Scorpio with Libra rising ?
Or Moon in Libra with Aquarius rising ?
The first chart also has a Grand Trine in Water – the Moon in Scorpio in the 1st with Saturn in the 9th and Mars in Pisces on the cusp of the 5th.
Given his prodigious musical talent, that would seem to be a better fit than the second one with no Grand Trine and an apex Saturn in the 5th.
Perhaps Layla might offer a clue.
Pattie Boyd / Harrison / Clapton has some interesting patterns of her own.
The Sun in Pisces opposite Neptune ( albeit wide ) points to substance abuse of her own.
A T Square Moon in Sagittarius opposite Mars / Saturn in Gemini with an apex Sun / Mercury certainly doesn’t suggest a settled personal life.
Jupiter and the North Node in the 7th might indicate fame and fortune through marriage. Pluto there would suggest upheaval.
Venus in Pisces in the 2nd house might link her love life with a favourable financial situation. It’s square to a 5th house Uranus would probably point to both her husbands having multiple affairs.
Pattie’s Venus is conjunct Eric’s Mars. Which places it in with Clapton’s Mars / Uranus square.
In Eric 1 chart, this square is 5th to 8th house, so perhaps that is a clue.
Eric’s Jupiter forms a Grand Cross with Pattie’s T Square.
His Jupiter is in the 7th house in Eric 2, so that is considerable evidence for this chart being the favoured one.
However, Pattie’s other 7th house placements ( Pluto and North Node ) are square to his Venus which in Eric 1 is in his 7th.
On top of that Eric 1 places Pattie’s Pluto at the apex of a T square involving his Venus and Scorpio Moon.
So chart number 1 is looking like the strongest candidate.
Maybe progressions can help us choose.
This measure would indicate when the most important member of Eric Clapton’s soul group came into his life.
His progressed Sun was conjunct Venus in 1968 – 69 when he met Pattie.
In chart 1 this this progression becomes even more important because Venus is in his 7th house.
Chart 1 also has the Moon in Scorpio in the 1st house in exact opposition to Venus, which given how his amorous intentions were thwarted, fits perfectly.
Layla was released when Eric’s progressed Sun was sextile his Mars and Saturn.
This could fit either chart because in one Mars is in the 5th house and the other has Saturn there.
But while these progressions confirm Pattie Boyd was Eric Clapton’s soulmate, was he hers ?
Pattie’s progressed Sun was sextile her Venus from 1977 – 79 when she married Eric.
A New Moon in Aries might suggest a fresh start for both of them but given it triggers the Sun / Neptune natal opposition that they both share, that was never going to work out that way.
The Sun in this chart is very close to Eric’s own Sun.
As chart 1 has that Sun in the 1st house opposite Neptune in the 7th, it seems that this marriage would be fated to play out his own natal pattern.
The close Mars / Neptune square shows that issues around alcohol were a big theme.
” Boyd soon struggled within the marriage and began drinking heavily, but these difficulties were masked by her public image with Clapton. Their marriage was marred by his infidelities and domestic violence. Clapton admitted to raping and abusing Pattie while they were married and he was a “full-blown” alcoholic who felt entitled to sex.
Boyd left Clapton in April 1987 and divorced him in 1989. Her stated reasons were Clapton’s years of alcoholism, as well as his numerous affairs. “
In 1987 the transit Neptune had reached the square to the wedding chart Sun.
Between 1987 and 89, Neptune was square to Eric’s Sun / Neptune opposition.
This is the kind of thing that appears so often in charts.
If there is a challenging aspect between a personal placement and one of the outer planets, it will represent an important theme for that person’s life, but there will come a time when it plays a massive role. This would be when it is triggered by the next major aspect between the two.
Eric Clapton is 78 years old. He has only had one Neptune transit to his Sun in his lifetime, when his Layla left him.
In fact the next one, the conjunction could well mark life itself leaving him.
With each astrological revelation we are seeing that chart 1 is the more accurate one for Eric Clapton.
It’s clear that Pattie was Eric’s Layla, but was he hers ?
Her progressed Sun was sextile her Saturn when she met Eric.
When asked about it all later she suspected ” that Clapton’s pursuit of her when she was married to Harrison “had more to do” with the competitive aspect of the two musicians’ friendship, and that “Eric just wanted what George had.”
For her the big one was her progressed Venus conjunct her Sun when she married George.
The synastry between the two is remarkable.
George’s Sun is conjunct Pattie’s Venus and his Venus is conjunct her Sun.
And George’s progressed Sun was conjunct his Venus when he married Pattie.
Coming back to the Derek and Layla story, ” Clapton and Boyd tried unsuccessfully to have children, even trying in vitro fertilisation in 1984, but were faced instead with miscarriages. He had an affair with Italian model Lory Del Santo, who gave birth to their son, Conor, in 1986. Clapton and Boyd later divorced in 1989 after she was “utterly devastated” by his confession to impregnating Del Santo during this affair.”
Lory had the Sun in Libra opposite an Aries Moon which fell right on Eric’s own Sun / Neptune opposition.
This is yet more evidence that its chart number one that works because that opposition is 1st to 7th house.
But it also brings us to the one incident in Eric Clapton’s life that would suggest that chart two is a better fit.
Because his son, Conor, died at the age of four after falling out of an open bedroom window on the 53rd floor of a Manhattan apartment building.
This is surely the most tragic thing that can happen to anyone.
In Eric’s chart it has to be indicated by the fact that his Sun / Neptune opposition focuses by T square onto an apex Saturn in the family sign of Cancer.
This Saturn also ropes Lory Del Santo into the experience because it forms an apex planet with her Sun / Moon opposition.
In Eric 1 chart, Saturn is in his 9th house.
In Eric 2, Saturn is in the 5th house of children.
The only 5th house planet in Eric 1 is Mars in Pisces on the cusp. And that Mars is part of a Grand Trine.
When I first saw these charts, I assumed number 2 was the correct one because of the 5th house Saturn placement.
However, once the progressions and transits to 1991 had been checked it was clearly not.
Many people find progressions confusing, but this is probably because they haven’t used them enough to understand the simplicity behind them.
The progressed Sun conjunct natal Venus ( or vice versa ) is the most powerful. And it would occur in most people’s lifetime.
Any other conjunction involving the Sun would depend on where the planets were at birth.
The Sun to Mars ( vice versa ) would have to be the next most important.
Eric Clapton had his progressed Sun conjunct his Venus when he met his Layla.
He had his progressed Mars conjunct his Sun when Conor died.
Therefore Mars in his chart must be saying something about that.
In chart 1, Mars despite being part of the Grand trine is on the cusp of the 5th house of children and square to Uranus in the 8th house of death. The accidental death of a child is a tragic expression of this aspect.
When Conor died, Eric’s progressed Mars was not only conjunct his Sun it was also sextile his Uranus, triggering the natal square.
Another factor was his progressed Moon being conjunct his Saturn.
In chart 2 this would have occurred between April and August of 1990.
In chart 1 it would have been between November 1990 and April 1991.
Conor died on March 20th 1991.
In a bizarre reflection of that progression, transit Saturn was square to Eric’s Moon, but only in chart 1.
In chart 2 Saturn is square to his Venus, but in 1 it forms the apex planet of a T square with his tight Moon in Scorpio / Venus in Taurus opposition.
The noon chart for the date of Conor’s death has a T square involving Jupiter and Saturn with an apex Venus.
This fits right on the Moon / Venus opposition of Eric chart 1.
So all of these indications point to chart 1 as being the right one for Eric Clapton.
Rectification of people’s charts is a tricky business. Some astrologers would just go on a hunch about an Ascendant.
My feeling is if you are going to do it at all, you should do it properly and test the transits and progressions to the chart against all the major events in that person’s life.
If you are going to have any confidence in the version you’ve chosen, they should all fall into place.
You could call it the domino effect.
Posted on 30th August 2023
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