|
1999
The incidents surrounding Harrison's near-fatal stabbing by a mentally-impaired attacker is doubly strange considering that a week prior to the incident, a stalker broke into Harrison's private estate on Maui. Within seven days, Harrison found a stranger enjoying pizza in his kitchen and then, days later, Harrison was stabbed brutally by an intruder back in England. Astrologically, Harrison's progressed Mars was not only conjunct his Sun but squared (in 90 degree angular relationship with) his natal Saturn-Uranus conjunction. (see chart) Although Mars doesn't usually correlate with violence, there can be times when the innate, healthy aggression of the Mars archetype reaches violent levels. With progressed Mars conjunct Harrison's natal Sun, there can be the dual tendency of both feeling aggressive and attracting aggressive and belligerence into one's life; unfortunately, for Harrison, the latter manifested.
Progressed Mars also energized the Saturn-Uranus conjunction in Harrison's natal chart in a particularly problematic fashion. There is a tendency (and not a definite certainty) for the Saturn-Uranus combination to manifest as mental agitation or mental breakdown, or to borrow Harrison's album title, to Gone Troppo (roughly meaning "to go crazy.") Purely on a conceptual level, the archetypal pairing is unstable because they represent entirely differing forces. Astrologer Sue Tompkins writes, "Saturn and Uranus represent such opposing principles that when they are contacting each other, especially by conjunction or hard aspect, a very taut kind of tension is created." This tension, if stretched too far can result in significant mental health problems. It appears, then, that the energizing principle that Mars represents pushed the tension of the Saturn-Uranus combination past the brink of sanity, and in a very aggressive way toward Harrison.
Conclusion
Harrison taught that us all things must pass, and yet, while holding this ultimate truth about the conditions of things here on earth, he lived with passion, care, and strength. In this sound-byte culture, Harrison will forever be "Beatle George," however, a closer scrutiny reveals a complex and whole person who was blessed with many talents and who made contributions in many arenas of life. More mature in years than Harrison, Beatle producer George Martin may have been the one person to have the best perspective on what life was like for Harrison as a Beatle. Behind the restraint, awkwardness, and seriousness of Harrison's personality, Martin's sensitivity picked up on the internal struggle that Harrison went through in this life between the thirst for transcendence and his need to be placed firmly here on earth. However, it was through the struggle that Harrison made his lasting and beautiful contributions.
|
 |
