Heath Ledger: RIP; OMG, WTF?!

The wave of happy birth news coming out of Hollywood has sadly given way to a wave of cut-down-in-their-prime death news. First we lost Brad Renfro, who tragically died too soon but -- and this is perhaps the most depressing part -- honestly surprised no one given his history. But now the news of Heath Ledger's demise comes as a total shock. What was going on with this talented young man at the time of his untimely demise?

Unfortunately, Heath's birth time is not a matter of record (if you have it, obviously, I would be most indebted for you to share), so interpretation is somewhat limited. But a few striking things jump out. See Heath Ledger's birth chart (Astrotheme, no birth time)

First, Heath was experiencing his first Saturn return at the time of his death -- a milestone around which so many talented artists have flamed out, from Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin to Kurt Cobain. The reality-check planet had already passed over his natal Saturn once and had just retrograded over it at the time of his death.

The Saturn return can be a time of reckoning, although typically it should mean recognition and transition into adulthood. Perhaps for famous-at-an-early-age Heath, despite his anti-Hollywood attitude, "growing up" (in the Lindsay Lohan sense) came too fast, and he was not able to handle the actual transition into adulthood and maturity. Both natal and transiting-at-time-of-death Saturn are retrograde in Virgo, and one wonders if he had trouble with authority, responsibility, and self-criticism.

Also at the time of Heath's death, retrograde transiting Mars in Gemini, and Venus and Pluto in Sagittarius, were forming a mutable T-square with his natal Mercury-Mars conjunction in Pisces (the sign associated with addiction and self-destruction). Again there is a feeling of transition, with the transformation brought by Pluto and the spontaneous change of Mars in Gemini (especially in retrograde). There is a lot of instability and volatility in this aspect formation.

Transiting Pluto in the last gasp of Sagittarius (along with Venus a degree away at 28 Sag) is/was also inconjunct Heath's natal Jupiter in the final degree of Cancer, again suggesting transition, expansion, and transformation. With the final degree of a sign, there is a sense of urgency, sometimes forcing the issue or trying too hard, and it is possible some sort of dissatisfaction was boiling over inside of Heath. This is not to suggest that his death was intentional, just that whatever demons were within him might have been particularly restless lately.

Also worth noting: Chiron is in a sextile aspect to his Sun and trine his Pluto. This could suggest dealing with self-transformation (Pluto-Sun) through self-wounding. The transiting Mercury-Neptune conjunction in Aquarius squares his natal Uranus, which could suggest an unexpected reaction to a miscalculation about substances.

We may never know everything that was going on with Heath at the time of his death, but it's certain that his life was cut short too soon. Namaste to Heath, and sincere condolences and well wishes to daughter Matilda, baby-mama Michelle Williams, and his other loved ones.

PS. I'll try to update this with a graphic and links and whatnot, but I just wanted to get it out ASAP.

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