Robin Williams

According to Robin Williams’ birth certificate, he was born at 1: 34 in the afternoon of 21 July, 1951 in Chicago. However, there was a state law in existence at the time which stated that all births had to be recorded in Central Standard Time. Thus, although the clock would have shown 2: 34 pm at the moment he was born, an hour had to be subtracted to keep in line with the law.

At 2: 34 in the afternoon Scorpio was rising with Pluto, the ruler of the chart, conjunct Mercury on the Mid-heaven. The Sun was in Cancer (9th house) and a Grand Trine was created by the Moon in Pisces trining a Mars-Uranus conjunction in Cancer in turn trining the Scorpio Ascendant.

If you’re looking for comic genius – genius, period – it is to be found in the above factors.

It was well known that Robin suffered periodically from depression and had sought escape in drugs and alcohol. Certainly, the combination of Moon in Pisces and the angular Mercury-Pluto conjunction would provide a breeding ground for addiction, self-destructive behaviour and periodic bouts of inner darkness. However, it was from this same deep pool that Williams drew his material and his performances.

Many of those he worked with commented on how very kind and supportive he was as an actor. They describe a quiet man, away from the stage and screen. He was also a man who actively helped those who suffered from addictions. And I think we can see this in the abundance of the element water in his chart: Sun and Mars in Cancer, Scorpio rising and the moon in Pisces.

What may have been hugely instrumental in precipitating the crisis that led him to take his life in the early hours of Monday morning was the super-moon that had taken place a handful of hours beforehand. The full moon at 18̊ Aquarius was precisely opposed to his natal Pluto, and squared by transiting Saturn. Sunday must have been the darkest of days for Robin.

Of course, we would say he died too young; there was still more life to live, more performances to come, but when I look at the transits on the day he died it seems to me that his time had come, his work was done.

That Mercury on the day conjoined natal Mercury and the Mid-heaven has an air of completion about it. That the moon was in Pisces, nudging Neptune, not only lends an aura of despair and sacrifice to events, but in his natal chart Neptune is the leading planet in a Locomotive shaping and the Moon the “tail”. Thus the qualities and themes associated with Neptune and the Moon have been redolent in his life and work, and were present at its end.

Also playing a part in these final days were Saturn and Mars. Saturn may not have been precisely on his natal Ascendant in Scorpio, but it was only five degrees away; more importantly, on the day Robin died the Mars-Saturn mid-point fell on his natal Ascendant.