This is my second astrology lesson posted on Ashtar Command aimed at beginners who want to learn the basics of horoscope interpretation. For those who missed my previous beginners lesson (which featured analysis of Marilyn Monroe), this lesson will follow the same guidelines as the lesson with Marilyn Monroe. We'll start out with one series of interpretations, then consolidate them with another series of interpretations, then consolidate those interpretations with another set, and then write out an interpretation based on the astrological interpretations.
This lesson will analyze a similar entertainment legend who (like Marilyn Monroe) also came from a broken family and a low income background. This astrology lesson will focus on the horoscope of reggae music legend and Rastafarianism proponent Robert Nesta Marley (a.k.a. Bob Marley).
Overview
This lesson will follow the same guidelines as the previous lesson. To avoid complexity, Chiron and the astrology signs will not be a part of the horoscope analysis, except for the astrology signs involved in planetary rulerships, detriments, exaltations, and falls.
From biography.com:
Bob Marley 1945–1981
Reggae singer, songwriter, guitarist
In his brief life, Bob Marley rose from poverty and obscurity to the status of an international superstar—the first Third World artist to be acclaimed to such a degree. Were it not for his charisma and ambition, reggae music might still be confined to Jamaica’s ghettoes where it originated. Loved by millions for his musical genius, Marley was also a heroic figure to poor and oppressed people everywhere because of his passionate articulation of their plight and his relentless calls for political change. As Jay Cocks wrote in Time, “His music could challenge the conscience, soothe the spirit and stir the soul all at once.”
Robert Nesta Marley was born to Cedella Malcolm when she was barely nineteen years old. The child was the result of her clandestine affair with Norval Marley, the local overseer of crown lands in the rural parish where she lived. Captain Marley, a white man more than twice Cedella’s age, married the girl to make the birth legitimate, but he left the countryside the day after his impromptu wedding in order to accept a post in the city of Kingston. He had virtually no contact with his wife and son for several years, and Bob grew up as the pet of his grandfather Malcolm’s large clan. He was known as a serious child and had a reputation for clairvoyance.
When Bob was about five years old, Cedella received a letter from her estranged husband, who asked that his child be sent to Kingston in order to attend school. Bob’s mother reluctantly agreed and put her young son on the bus to Jamaica’s largest city. Captain Marley met the child, but, for reasons unknown, he took him to the home of an elderly, invalid woman and abandoned him there. Bob was left to fend almost entirely for himself in Kingston’s ghettos, generally considered some of the world’s most dangerous. Months passed before Cedella managed to track down her child and bring him back to his country home. Before long, however, mother and child had returned to Kingston, where Cedella believed she had a greater chance of improving her life. She and Bob were joined by Bob’s closest friend, Bunny Livingston, and Bunny’s father, Thaddeus.
Jamaican society held very few opportunities for blacks at that time. Bob and Bunny grew up in an environment where violent crime was glorified by many young people as one of the few ways of getting ahead. Music was seen as another means of escape. Like most of their contemporaries, the two boys dreamed of becoming recording stars, and they spent their days coming up with songs and practicing them to the accompaniment of makeshift guitars, fashioned from bamboo,
At a Glance…
Born Robert Nesta Marley, February 6, 1945, in Nine Miles, Saint Ann, Jamaica; died of cancer, May 11, 1981, in Miami, FL; buried in Nine Miles, Saint Ann, Jamaica; son of Norval Sinclair Marley (a British Army captain) and Cedella Marley Booker (a shopkeeper, and later, a singer; maiden name, Malcolm); married Alpharita Constantia Anderson (known as Rita; a singer), February 10, 1966; children: (with wife) David (Ziggy), Cedella, Stephen, and Stephanie; (other legally recognized children with seven different women) daughters Karen and Makeda Jahnesta, and sons Rowan, Robbie, Kimani, Julian, and Damian, Religion: Rastafarian.
Worked as a welder, Kingston, Jamaica, briefly in 1961; lab assistant at Du Pont, forklift driver in a warehouse, and assembly-line worker at Chrysler, all in Delaware,1966; owner of a record store, Wailin’ Soul, Kingston, Jamaica, beginning 1966; formed Tuff Gong recording label, 1970; recording artist, 1962-81; founding member, with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, of musical group the Wailers (originally known as the Teenagers, then as the Wailing Rudeboys, then the Wailing Wailers), early 1960s.
Awards: Special citation on behalf of Third World nations from United Nations, 1979; Jamaica’s Order of Merit, 1981; May 11 proclaimed Bob Marley Day in Toronto, Canada
sardine cans, and electrical wire. By 1963, Marley’s dream had come true—he’d released his first single, “Judge Not.” Soon he and Bunny had teamed with another singer, Peter Macintosh (later known as Peter Tosh), to form a group known as the Wailers. Through talent shows, gigs at small clubs, and recordings, the Wailers became one of the most popular groups in Jamaica.
Their early success was based on popular dance hits in the “ska” music style. As time passed, they added social commentary to their lyrics and were instrumental in transforming the light, quick ska beat into the slower, bass-heavy reggae sound. The three men also came under the influence of Rastafarianism. This complex set of mystical beliefs holds that the now deceased Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia (whose given name was Ras Tafari) was the living God who would lead blacks out of oppression and into an African homeland. It was once considered the religion of outcasts and lunatics in Jamaica, but in the 1960s it came to represent an alternative to violence for many ghetto dwellers. Rastafarianism lent dignity to their suffering and offered them the hope of eventual relief. Rejecting the standards of the white world that led many blacks to straighten their hair, Rastas let theirs mat up into long, ropy “dreadlocks.” They follow strict dietary rules, abhor alcohol and drugs, but revere “ganja” (marijuana) as a holy herb that brings enlightenment to users. The Wailers soothed ghetto tensions with lyrical messages of peace and love, but at the same time, they warned the ruling class of “imminent dread judgement on the downpressors.”
Wailers Gained Worldwide Popularity
For all their acclaim in Jamaica, the Wailers saw few profits from their early recording career, as unscrupulous producers repeatedly cheated them out of royalties and even the rights to their own songs. That situation changed in the early 1970s, after Marley sought an alliance with Chris Blackwell, a wealthy white Jamaican whose record company, Island, was the label of many major rock stars. At the time, reggae was still considered unsophisticated slum music that could never be appreciated by non-Jamaican audiences. Blackwell had a deep interest in the music, however, and because he felt that the Wailers were the one group capable of popularizing reggae internationally, he offered them a contract. He handled the marketing of their first Island album, Catch a Fire, just as he would have handled any rock band’s product, complete with slick promotional efforts and tours of Britain and the United States. Slowly, the Wailers’ sound began to catch on beyond the borders of Jamaica. An important catalyst to their popularity at this time was Eric Clapton’s cover of Marley’s composition, “I Shot the Sheriff,” from the Wailers’ 1973 album Burnin’. Clapton’s version became a worldwide hit, leading many of his fans to discover the Wailers’ music.
As their popularity increased, the original Wailers drew closer to a parting of the ways. Bunny Livingston (who had taken the name Bunny Wailer) disliked leaving Jamaica for extended tours, and Peter Tosh resented Chris Blackwell’s efforts to make Bob the focus of the group. Each launched solo careers in the mid-1970s, while Marley released Natty Dread in 1974, which was hailed by Rolling Stone reviewer Stephen Davis as “the culmination of Marley’s political art to this point.” The reviewer continued: “With every album he’s been rocking a little harder and reaching further out to produce the stunning effect of a successful spell. Natty Dread deals with rebellion and personal liberation.… The artist lays his soul so bare that the careful listener is satiated and exhausted in the end.” Rastaman Vibration was released in 1976 to even more enthusiastic reviews. It was full of acid commentary on the worsening political situation in Jamaica, including a denouncement of the CIA's alleged involvement in island politics—a bold statement that brought Marley under the surveillance of the CIA and other U.S. intelligence organizations. His prominence in Jamaica reached messianic proportions, causing one Time reporter to exclaim, “He rivals the government as a political force.”
Assassination Attempt Followed by Exile
Marley regarded all politicians with skepticism, considering them to be part of what Rastafarians call “Babylon,” or the corrupt Western world. In the election for Prime Minister of Jamaica, however, he was known to favor Michael Manley of the People’s National Party—a socialist group—over Edward Seaga, candidate of the right-wing Jamaican Labour Party. When Manley asked Bob Marley to give a “Smile Jamaica” concert to reduce tensions between the warring gangs associated with the two parties, the singer readily agreed.
Shortly before the concert was to take place on December 3, 1976, Marley’s home was stormed by seven gunmen, suspected henchmen of the Jamaican Labour Party. Marley, his wife, Rita, and their manager Don Taylor were all injured in the ensuing gunfire. Yet despite the assassination attempt, the concert went on as scheduled. An audience of 80,000 people was electrified when Marley, bandaged and unable to strum his guitar, climbed to the stage to begin a blistering ninety-minute set. “At the close of his performance, Bob began a ritualistic dance, acting out aspects of the ambush that had almost taken his life,” reported Timothy White in Catch a Fire: The Life of Bob Marley. “The last [the audience] saw before the reigning King of Reggae disappeared back into the hills was the image of the man mimicking the two-pistoled fast draw of a frontier gunslinger, his locks thrown back in triumphant laughter.”
Immediately after the “Smile Jamaica” concert, Marley left the country, beginning a long term of self-imposed exile. After a period of recuperation, he toured the United States, Europe, and Africa. Reviewing his 1977 release, Exodus. Ray Coleman wrote in Melody Maker: “This is a mesmerizing album… more accessible, melodically richer, delivered with more directness than ever.… After an attempt on his life, Marley has a right to celebrate his existence, and that’s how the album sounds: a celebration.” But Village Voice reviewer Roger Trilling found that Exodus was “underscored by deep personal melancholy, a musical echo of the rootless wanderings that followed [Marley’s] self-exile from Jamaica.”
In 1978, Marley injured his foot during an informal soccer game. The painful wound was slow to heal and finally forced the singer to seek medical help. Doctors informed him that he was in the early stages of cancer and advised amputation of his damaged toe. He refused, because such treatment was not in keeping with Rasta beliefs. Despite worsening health, Marley continued to write and perform until September, 1980, when he collapsed while jogging in New York's Central Park during the U.S. leg of a world tour. Doctors determined that tumors were spreading throughout his lungs and brain. He underwent radiation therapy and a controversial holistic treatment in the Bavarian Alps,but to no avail. After his death on May 11, 1981, he was given a state funeral in Jamaica, which was attended by more than 100,000 people. Prime Minister Edward Seaga remembered Marley as “a native son… a beloved and departed friend.” “He was a man with deep religious and political sentiments who rose from destitution to become one of the most influential music figures in the last twenty years,” eulogized White in Rolling Stone. He was “an inspiration for black freedom fighters the world over.… When his death was announced, the degree of devastation felt… was incalculable.”
Rare Photos
Bob Marley & Beverley Allstar's Second Single (1962). "Judge Not" was his first single, also recorded in 1962.
One cup of coffee, then I'll go;Though I just dropped by to let you knowThat I'm leaving you tomorrow;I'll cause you no more sorrow:One cup of coffee, then I'll go.
I brought the money like the lawyer said to do,But it won't replace the 'eartache I caused you;It won't take the place of lovin' you, I know,So one cup of coffee, then I'll go.---/Saxophone solo/---Tell the kids I came last nightAnd kissed them while they slept;Make my coffee sweet and warmJust the way you used to lie in my arms.
I brought the money like the lawyer said to do,But it won't replace the 'eartache I caused you;It won't take the place of lovin' you, I know,So one cup of coffee, then I'll go;One cup of coffee, then I'll go;One cup of coffee, then I'll go./fadeout/
Bob Marley's Passport Photo (1965)
Ratafarianism Musician Joe Higgs (One of Bob Marley's Inspirations To Drop Catholicism And Convert To Rastafarianism in 1966).
1967 Bob Marley and The Wailers Single "Thank You Lord" (reportedly didn't do well due to high demand for ska music in Jamaica)
Thank you, Lord, for what you've done for me.
Thank you, Lord, for what you're doing now.
Thank you, Lord, for ev'ry little thing.
Thank you, Lord, for you make me sing.
Said I'm in no competition,
But I made my decision.
You can keep your opinion.
I'm just calling on the wise man communion.
Thank you, Lord, for what you've done for me.
Thank you, Lord, for what you're doing now.
Thank you, Lord, for ev'ry little thing.
Thank you, Lord, for you make me sing.
Sing along, sing along.
I don't fear their oppression,
Just to prove my determination.
I don't yield to temptation,
I have learn't my lesson in Revelation.
Thank you, Lord, for what you've done for me.
Thank you, Lord, for what you're doing now.
Thank you, Lord, for ev'ry little thing.
Thank you, Lord, for you make me sing.
Sing along, sing along.
Said I'm in no competition
But I made my decision,
Lord, in my simple way.
Comin', comin', comin', comin'.
I love to pray.
Thank you, Lord, for what you've done for me.
Thank you, Lord, for what you're doing now.
Thank you, Lord, for ev'ry little thing.
Thank you, Lord, for you make me sing.
Going Commercial? The Bob Marley and The Wailers Bounce Back in December 1970 With Help From U.K.'s Trojan Records
!973 "Burnin" (Which Featured "I Shot The Sheriff" and "Get Up Stand Up.")
1973 "Catch A Fire"
Alternative Cover For "Catch A Fire"
Please feel free to copy or print the following astrology interpretations by me. It will make life easier, and you will be getting much knowledge from me after years of "try and fail" versus "try and experience success." Otherwise, you will be scrolling back and forth to verify the astrology interpretations.
Step One:
Print out the horoscope and aspects grid. Most astrology programs should allow a printout of the aspects grid.
Highlight the significant aspects between the planets (and I did this by circling them above on the Aspects Grid sheet for Bob Marley). As with the previous lesson with Marilyn Monroe, we'll only use aspects with orbs of 4 degrees or less for the Opposition, Trine, Square, Sextile, and Conjunction and 2 degrees or less for the Quincunx, Sesquiquadrate, Semi-Square, and Semi-Sextile.
As with the previous lesson, personal points (Sun, Moon, North Node, Midheaven, and Ascendant) get first priority while all others get second priority.
Here is what we came up with:
Sun Semi-Square Venus
Sun Sextile Ascendant
Sun Quincunx North Node
Moon Sextile Jupiter
North Node Quincunx Ascendant
Ascendant Semi-Square Mercury
Midheaven Trine Mars
Mercury Sextile Venus
Venus Square Saturn
Venus Opposition Neptune
Mars Trine Jupiter
Saturn Square Neptune
Uranus Trine Neptune
Uranus Sextile Pluto
Neptune Sextile Pluto
Step Three:
Look for planetary rulerships, detriments, exaltations, and falls.
Here's what I came up with for Bob Marley's horoscope placements:
Rulerships:
None
Detriments:
Sun in Aquarius
Venus in Aries
Saturn in Cancer
Exaltations:
Mercury in Aquarius
Mars in Capricorn
Pluto in Leo
Falls:
Moon in Scorpio
Step Four:
Analyze the aspects per meaning of the angle and the compatibility of the planets or personal points involved (along with rulership, detriment, exaltation, or fall).
Personal Points
Sun (Detriment) Semi-Square Venus (Detriment)
- Great probability for minor discomfort or friction (Semi-Square) concerning one's outward personality (Sun) and relationships with others or artwork (Venus).
Sun (Detriment) Sextile Ascendant
- Opportunity and potential for harmony (Sextile) concerning one's outward personality (Sun) in the environment (Ascendant).
Sun (Detriment) Quincunx North Node
- Slight tension (Quincunx) concerning the outward personality (Sun) and connections or separations with others.
Moon (Fall) Sextile Jupiter
- Opportunity and strong potential for harmony (Sextile) concerning expansion, international involvement, or philosophical involvement (Jupiter) with the public, family, or one's inner personality (Moon).
North Node Quincunx Ascendant
- Slight tension (Quincunx) concerning connections and separations with others (North Node) in the environment (Ascendant).
Ascendant Semi-Square Mercury (Exaltation)
- Minor discomfort or friction (Semi-Square) with communications or curiosity (Mercury) with aspects in the environment (Ascendant).
Midheaven Trine Mars (Exaltation)
- Harmony and good fortune (Trine) concerning actions and physical activity (Mars) having an effect on one's reputation or legacy (Midheaven).
Non-Personal Points
Mercury (Exaltation) Sextile Venus (Detriment)
- Opportunity and potential for harmony (Sextile) regarding relationships with others or artwork(Venus) via communications or curiosity(Mercury).
Venus (detriment) Square Saturn (Detriment)
- Great probability for challenges or potential conflict (Square) regarding relationships with others or artwork (Venus) subject to restrictions or involving older people, authority, or the government (Saturn).
Venus (Detriment) Opposition Neptune
- Great probability for trade-offs or hard choices (Opposition) regarding relationships with others or artwork(Venus) subject to deception, service, music, drugs, or spying (Neptune).
Mars (Exaltation) Trine Jupiter
- Great probability for harmony and good fortune (Trine) concerning actions and physical activity (Mars) involving philosophy, international lands or people, and expansion of such activities (Jupiter).
Saturn (Detriment) Square Neptune
- Great probability for challenges or potential conflict (Square) concerning restrictions or the involvement of older people, authority, or government (Saturn) with deception, services, drugs, music, or spying (Neptune).
Uranus Trine Neptune
- Harmony and good fortune (Trine) with one's individuality, rebellious ways, or personal aspirations (Uranus) involving deception, services, drugs, music or spying (Neptune).
Uranus Sextile Pluto (Exaltation)
- Great probability for opportunity and potential harmony (Sextile) involving transformation or crisis (Pluto) and individuality, rebellious ways, or aspirations (Uranus).
Neptune Sextile Pluto (Exaltation)
- Opportunity and potential for harmony (Sextile) involving transformation or crisis (Pluto) and deception, services, drugs, music, or spying (Neptune).
Step Five:
Now we incorporate the meanings of the houses into the planets in aspect with each other. Again, look at rulerships, detriments, exaltations, and falls to facilitate decision-making regarding the type of planetary picture definition.
Personal Points:
3rd House Sun (Detriment) Semi-Square 4th House Venus (Detriment)
- Great probability for minor discomfort or friction concerning the outward personality involved in communications concerning relationships with others at the home.
3rd House Sun (Detriment) Sextile Ascendant
- Opportunity and potential for harmony concerning the outward personality involved with communications in the environment.
3rd House Sun (Detriment) Quincunx 8th House North Node
- Slight tension concerning the outward personality involved with communications with others concerning connections or separations with others.
12th House Moon (Fall) Sextile 10th House Jupiter
- Opportunity and potential for harmony with services or deception involving the family, public, or inner personality and these areas connected with international areas or philosophical areas that will have an impact on one's reputation, career, and or goals with ones life.
8th House North Node Quincunx Ascendant
- Slight tension concerning connections and separations with others in the environment due to matters related to secrecy, banking, wills, finance, or sexuality.
Ascendant Semi-Square 2nd House Mercury (Exaltation)
- Minor discomfort or friction with communications or curiosity in the environment concerning finances or money.
Midheaven Trine 2nd House Mars (Exaltation)
- Harmony and good fortune concerning labor actions and money-making physical activity having a positive effect on one's reputation or legacy.
Non-Personal Points:
2nd House Mercury (Exaltation) Sextile 4th House Venus (Detriment)
- Opportunity and potential for harmony regarding relationships with others or artwork via communications or curiosity with such areas.
4th House Venus (detriment) Square 7th House Saturn (Detriment)
- Great probability for challenges and potential conflict concerning relationships with older people, authorities, or government regarding relations at home or artwork.
4th House Venus (Detriment) Opposition 10th House Neptune
- Great probability for trade-offs and hard choices regarding relationships with others or artwork that may be subject to deception, service, music, drugs, or spying.
2nd House Mars (Exaltation) Trine 10th House Jupiter
- Great probability for harmony and good fortune concerning labor actions and money-making physical activity involving philosophy, international lands or people, and expansion of such activities.
7th House Saturn (Detriment) Square 10th House Neptune
- Great probability for challenges or potential conflict concerning relationships with older people, authority, or government that concerns career or goal-in-life areas related to deception, services, drugs, music, or spying.
6th House Uranus Trine 10th House Neptune
- Harmony and good fortune with vocational skills or nutritional knowledge concerning individuality, rebellious ways, or personal aspirations that are involved with career or goal-in-life areas related to deception, services, drugs, music, or spying.
6th House Uranus Sextile 8th House Pluto (Exaltation)
- Great probability for opportunity and potential for harmony involving transformation via crisis, banking, finances, secrecy, or sexuality and these areas having an impact on vocational skills and nutritional knowledge that concerns one's individuality, rebellious ways, or aspirations.
10th House Neptune Sextile 8th House Pluto (Exaltation)
- Opportunity and potential for harmony involving transformation via crisis, banking, finances, secrecy, or sexuality and these areas having an impact on career or goal-in-life areas related to deception, services, drugs, music, or spying.
Step Six:
Put It All Together For An Astrology Interpretation!!!
Now we put everything together, starting with the personal points incorporated in the houses and ending with non-personal points incorporated with the houses. I personally like to leave areas related to the Midheaven (MC) last, as this defines the legacy of the individual from an astrological perspective.
Here we go:
"Bob Marley will have an outward personality that may be known for indirect and direct friction at the home, along with minor tension in the course of forming connections and separations with others.
But Marley will also have much opportunity for harmony with the general environment, along with opportunity for harmony for his family and community due to service-type involvement with career areas concerning philosophy or career areas having international implications.
Opportunity exists for money-making activities concerning communications with others in the environment that involve relationships with others or artwork. Also note that there is a very strong probability for much career success and much harmony related to labor activities associated with a philosophy or associated with an area that involves international areas and foreigners.
Opportunity for harmony exists for harmonic relationships with others via a money-making activity involving communications, but there is also the probability for minor tension or friction in the same environment that Bob Marley may use for these same communications. Activities involving connections with banking, finances, wills, secrecy, and sexuality may also involve minor tension during the lifetime.
Slight tension may also arise due to many connections and separations with others in the environment. Deception or required service with certain relationships may require important trade-offs and hard choices in one's environment.
Also note that Bob Marley must be very wary of strong probability for conflict with authority figures, older people, and government. This is especially true regarding conflict with these described areas of authority that may affect the family or friends associated with one's home or personal living space. Other areas that have strong probability for conflict with these same described entities (i.e. older people, authority figures, and government) include areas of deception, services, music, drugs, or spying.
As mentioned earlier, there is potential for slight tension involving connections and separations in areas involved in banking, finance, wills, sexuality, and secrecy. But please note that there is also a strong probability for opportunity or harmony to exist with these same areas as well. Hence, it is thus possible that conflicts may exist due to harmony and tension in these areas in the course of Bob Marley's life. The end result of these conflicts indicates probable transformation crisis as a result and a probable reality.
Note that harmony is probable with involvement of career or goals-in-life that are related to deception, service, music, drugs, or spying and the application of these described areas with Marley's vocational skills and nutritional knowledge that reflects Marley's individuality, rebelliousness, and personal aspirations.
The legacy and reputation of Bob Marley will be noted for much harmony due to his labor and money-making physical activities."
Thanks for reading.
Love to all,
Malcolm
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