_{Cover Image of Sinead O’Connor’s book, a revelatory memoir called ‘Rememberings’. Image from: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53968505-rememberings}

In a weird blow to the collective, we recently found out that not only did Jane Birkin pass away on the 16th of July, but a mere 10 days after, on the 26th of July, Sinead O’Connor departed as well. When I heard such sad news, I immediately thought of ‘What is going on here?’ since I was aware that one thing these wonderful artists had in astrological common was the fact that they were Sagittarius Suns. Since the Spring of 2023, Sagittarius energy has been under pressure due to the squares received from Uranus conjunct Jupiter in Taurus and Saturn conjunct Neptune in Pisces – two energies which don’t blend well with Jupiterian optimism and exuberance. However, having squares to one’s natal Sun isn’t enough to predict or estimate the death of a celebrity, also because squares indicate a productive sense of frustration, they bring in dynamic changes and course corrections. However, it’s notoriously difficult to predict how an individual’s free will is going to use the astrological energy available to them; and often circumstances take a fated quality and end up escaping individual control. In such cases, astrologers need to look at the influence of the outer planets rather than the transits of the personal planets.

One thing which stands out is the fact that Sinead was undergoing her second Saturn return at the time of her death. The current transits of Saturn and Neptune in Pisces were crossing over her natal Saturn in Pisces in the 3rd house (the house of the local neighborhood & communication) and conjunct the asteroid Lilith (The Wild Feminine) and Chiron (the Wounded Healer). Not only that but Sinead’s Saturn is nataly placed in opposition to her Pluto (death and transformation) and in Virgo (the sign of health) and in the 9th house, conjunct Uranus (the energy of shock and sudden awareness). So, in spite of the fact that it’s too early to tell – because the investigation into her mysterious death is ongoing – I do feel like she might’ve been pressured (Saturn) by someone in her neighborhood (3rd house) of international origins (the 9th house). Let’s look more closely into her chart and see what else she might have in common with the late Jane Birkin.

_{Image of the birth-chart of Sinead O’Connor taken from https://www.astro-seek.com/birth-chart/sinead-o-connor-horoscope}

Sinéad O’Connor was born on December 8th, 1966 in Dublin Ireland; she was 56 years old at the time of her death). Her Sun was in Sagittarius in the 1st house (conjunct Venus & her Ascendant) while her Moon was in Libra in the 10th house (loosely conjunct Mars). We see here the markers of a passionate persona who does not hold back when she needs to speak her truth. In addition, her North Node was in Taurus in the 5th house while her South Node was in Scorpio in the 11th house (conjunct Neptune and Mercury). This is the placement of an individual struggling with their self-worth and needing to overcome a lot of darkness in their lives (I briefly talked about this placement when I examined Pamela Anderson’s chart).

After 18th months of having her nodal return – since the nodes of the Moon travelled through the signs of Taurus and Scorpio from 19th January 2022 up until the 18th of July – Sinead also embarked on her second Saturn return (as the planet of karma moved into Pisces in March of this year). Those are some heavy karmic energies to deal with and I find it heart-breaking that she relocated to London during her nodal return in order to ‘feel less lonely’ only to find herself during a Saturn return, which mentally is a difficult time when one feels alone, pressured by external circumstances and criticized by people. Sinead had to find a way to channel Saturnian density into some form of meaningful work. It looked as if Sinead was indeed living up to the Saturnian pressure as she was rumored to have been working on another album and planning new tour dates, but I believe no one expected the ‘mother of all unexpected events’ to reach her doorstep, and still so early in her life.

For an artist like Sinead, having a South Node in Scorpio makes one comfortable with sudden and traumatic events that one simple must endure. A person with such a heavy karma undergoes a lot of loss, abuse and darkness as they are growing up. Oout of these experiences, the individual needs to create stability, calm, peace of mind and a healing form of art that brings the light into their soul again. And with Saturn in the spiritual and emotional sign of Pisces, soul healing was her duty in this lifetime. This Piscean energy also gave her that gorgeous voice and lyrical sensitivity. Sinead’s personal history is as sad as it gets, involving growing up with a violent mother, attending the Magdalene laundries and suffering deprivation and abuse, speaking out against the Catholic church and receiving backlash for that (Saturn in the 3rd house makes one receive their heaviest karma through their words and communications) but through it all she persevered: she raised 4 children, changed religions, fell in and out of love, was politically outspoken and kept performing. My favorite period of her career was her collaboration with Massive Attack on the album 100th Window, which to my mind is the most haunting presence she had in music.

_{Image of the birth-chart of Jane Birkin taken from https://www.astro-seek.com/birth-chart/jane-birkin-horoscope}

I guess there isn’t much of a term of comparison, although Jane Birkin (born on December 14th 1946 in Marylebone, London, UK; aged 76 years old at time of death) had her Sun in the sign of Sagittarius in the 7th house (conjunct Mars, Lilith, Mercury and her South Node), her Moon was in Virgo in the 5th house and her Ascendant in Gemini (conjunct Uranus retrograde and her North Node). We see here someone with an opposite Ascendant to what Sinead had (Geminian rather than Sagittarian). In addition Jane had her Sun in the relational and romantic 7th house, while Sinead had it in the charismatic and individualistic, 1st house. So even if they are born under the same emotionally expressive Sagittarius energy, the areas of life and the manner in which both women play out these energies are contradictorily different.

Jane’s Venus placement was in Scorpio and conjunct Jupiter, the Great Benefic and in the service-prone 6th house, while her Mars placement was in Sagittarius conjunct that 7th house Jupiterian stellium mentioned above. These two, latter, personal placements of her Venus and Mars denote someone who was not only meant to achieve fame in her lifetime but also lived with, loved and gave birth to famous people (nod to Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon). Her Venus conjunct Jupiter energy is also the culprit behind the reason why Jane ended up being associated with one of the most expensive luxury goods, the famous Birkin bag created by Hermès and inspired by her image, and currently retailing at up to $300,000!

With her North Node in Gemini and South Node in Sagittarius, Jane was born to learn to take life less seriously, to adopt a light-hearted approach to her personal relationships and to communicate as much as she can. We see here gradually moving from her performative role in her youth, as a model and singer, and a muse to her famous partner, Serge Gainsbourg, to a more acting oriented career. I also see here someone who struggled with her emotions, feeling safe or rooted into a specific space and even might have had to put in a lot of effort into building her blended family life, since her karma, represented by Saturn is in the 4th house conjunct Pluto retrograde and in Leo. I’ sure that while she might’ve been a heavy-handed and rather intimidating mother with such a placement, she also provided her many children a sense of powerful safety, especially since with her Moon in the 5th house this is a woman who is emotionally attached to her children and someone in love with performing and the world of arts.

It’s interesting that Jane died this summer, right before the beginning of Leo season, as Venus was in Leo and preparing to begin her retrograde movement and as Lilith, the Wild Feminine Archetype and the bringer of ruin, was transiting through the sign of Leo. This summer must’ve felt heavy on Jane’s soul with so many transits going back and forth over her natal Saturn and Pluto and in the most private place of the zodiac, the 4th house. As a consequence of this energy, we are informed that Jane died at home, after a stroke which was a symptom which she had suffered from in the past. I feel like Jane left behind a rather quirky and chaotic body of work, but most importantly she left behind a legacy of freedom. From being censored for her work with Serge early in her career to her animal activism later on in life, she held a candle high for unbridled artistic & romantic expression; a mentality which I can see that her courageous & sensitive Cancer Sun daughter, Charlotte took to extremes in her career (nod to her continuous collaboration with Lars von Trier).

But this post is about Jane and Sinead, not anyone else that they loved or brought into this world. I guess that on a deeper level this post is about what we all collectively gained from their legacy; if I were to sum it up in a sentence that precious thing would be: being given permission to speak as women, live freely & take risks in life and in art, with wanton abandon.

With universal love,

Lexi