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July/August 2007 Cosmic
Instant Karma's Gonna Get You: John Lennon's Natal Chart

by Leslie Zemenek

I remember the day that John Lennon was shot. I was living on the upper East side in New York and my office was just 20 blocks south of the Dakota. That was 26 years ago. And despite having left this earth too early, his name will be forever linked to the movement for peace in the world. I believe he fulfilled his destiny - he left a larger than life legacy that still touches us today.

During the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon tried to silence Lennon as a voice of peace. The U.S. vs. John Lennon, a documentary about Nixon's efforts, intrigued me, so I decided an analysis of the karma in Lennon's natal chart was in order.

Looking first to the 12th house to determine the background behind the karma, we see that Lennon has Pisces intercepted here. Aquarius is on the cusp and Aries takes up a good amount of real estate as well. I read this as a past life fighting for freedom (Aquarius) with Aries lending a martial influence. The Pisces interception tells me he was more than likely imprisoned for his actions or beliefs. Pisces/Aries also tells me that he may have been unrealistic about what he could accomplish, that he may have tried to go it alone in his quest.

Uranus retrograde in the 1st house confirms this to some degree. It shows a pursuit of freedom at all costs. It also shows that he felt like an outsider.

Add to this Saturn and Jupiter, both retrograde, and exactly conjunct in the 1st house and we can say that this is not the first time that Lennon's life was cut short. (Here's why I say this: Donald H. Yott, in his book Astrology and Reincarnation, sees Jupiter retrograde as lack of expansion and Saturn retrograde as returning with the same goals as before, but in a different set of circumstances. When other factors are present that show war, slavery and illness, I will often read Jupiter and/or Saturn retrograde as signs of an early death.) With the last 19 degrees of Lennon's 12th house in Aries, the past life death was probably caused by a fight or an act of rage.

The South Node, one of the most widely used markers of past life patterns and behaviors, is in John's 12th house, in Aries. This confirms the warrior aspect of the past life script. There is a tendency for those with South Node in Aries to feel that no one is looking out for them, and that they need to be protective of themselves. Again, a sign of Lennon acting alone in his past life, taking on a fight for an ideal, even if he could not win.

In this life, Lennon was asked to develop the opposite traits of Libra, the sign of his North Node. Libra is the scales, the balancer, the peacemaker, the bringer of harmony. With his Sun and Mars, the natural ruler of Aries, also in Libra, he would be guided to search out partners in his quest, and to set goals of working for peace.

In all intercepted charts, the same sign sits on two consecutive house cusps. In Lennon's chart the duplicated sign of Capricorn on the 10th and 11th houses show that, to fulfill his destiny, his career should in some way involve social reform, and that he was here to do something for the good of the many.

Lastly, his Part of Fortune in Capricorn (in the 9th house of the teacher and philosopher) indicates that Lennon was here to create something that would outlast his own existence.

John Lennon continues to fight the man. His voice is just the one we need in these times, the voice that lends power to the people.

Leslie Zemenek, a hand reader and karmic astrologer with a practice in Portland, consults with clients all over North America. Her readings are heavily influenced by mythology, alchemy and the Kabbalah. She teaches workshops in The Art of Reading Hands and Journeys on the Tree of Life. Visit www.karmicknowledge.com.