Keeping up with the Joneses, Bowie & Iman

In the wake of David Bowie’s untimely death last week, the one sentiment that has been echoed over and over and over again is that David Bowie was an original. There will never be another one like him again. I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. Like everyone else I am still trying to recover from the shock of having lost one of my musical idols. A piece of my youth died with him on January 10th, 2016.

He was a talented musician, actor, film maker, writer, tibetan buddhist, mime, artist, painter, graphic designer, fashion icon, comedian, political activist, internet service provider, champion of the disenfranchised… and the list goes on. He kept his private life to himself but the one thing that has come out over the last week in various interviews and articles is how much he loved his wife of 23 years, Iman.

David Bowie was a renowned party animal in the 70s and 80s. He worked hard but he played equally hard. His promiscuous escapades have been well documented. However the day he met Iman that all changed. He was instantly smitten by the exotic Somali super model. By his account, he was already naming their children on the first night they met. He quietly dedicated the last years of his life to her and their daughter. They remained very much in love until the end.

David Bowie, was born David Robert Jones in Brixton, South London on January 8th, 1947 at 9:00 a.m. in the morning. He decided to change his name because Davey Jones of the Monkees had already catapulted to fame just before he made it on to the scene. True story–Bowie decided to adopt the name Tom Jones but a few weeks later, Tom Jones burst through the charts with “It’s Not Unusual.” So David Jones became David Bowie and remained that way until his death.

David Bowie was born under the sign of the goat which is somewhat surprising. Fitting into the conventional standards and the status quo was never his thing. Breaking them was. He was the chameleon of rock n roll.  He was offered a knighthood in 2003 by the queen and turned it down. He was never into labels. Not your typical ambitious Capricorn but the one thing everyone does agree on is that David Bowie was a workaholic just like the goat. We can see that with that with his Mars conjunct his Sun. Mars was exalted in Capricorn and worked optimally. When Mars is next to the Sun it gives the Sun drive and energy. This definitely accounted for Bowie’s workaholic tendencies.

Both Sun and Mars were in the 12th house which is the house of self undoing. On the one hand having these planets made him incredibly creative and ahead of his time. I still marvel at his 1973 video “Life on Mars.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v–IqqusnNQ. To this day it is one of the most artistically executed videos. His pale made up face looks like a surreal painting against a stark white backdrop. Videos were not even part of the mainstream in 1973, yet this masterpiece was born from his imagination, as were all his personas. In true 12th house fashion he hid behind his creations for the first 2 decades of his career.

Having a 12th house Sun/Mars made him have addictive and escapist tendencies. Twelfth house Sun natives are usually shy and want to escape reality. For most of the 70s and 80s David Bowie was addicted to cocaine, alcohol and different alter egos. Even Mick Jagger who is no stranger to partying was astounded by Bowie’s cocaine consumption. Bowie himself has claimed there were years of his life in the 70s, he simply did not remember due to his addiction. It was not until he was awarded custody of his son that he cleaned up his act.

Bowie had a quirky, eccentric Ascendant in Aquarius. No surprise. Let’s be honest, Bowie was ahead of his time on so many different levels from sexual orientation, civil rights, space travel, internet service provider and being involved in inter racial relationships. He always pushed the envelope and he definitely embodied that Uranian genius quality. In 1971 no one openly claimed their sexual orientation. It was not the norm. In the 70s Elton John was closeted and married to a woman. In true Aquarius fashion, David Bowie never hid in a closet. He always openly declared his sexuality. The ruler of his Ascendant, Uranus was at 18˚ Gemini. Gemini rules androgyny. Gemini rules sexual curiosity which are two things that Bowie was well known for. His slender, youthful, rakish build was reminiscent of the winged messenger God himself, Mercury. He had a talent for reinventing himself over and over again. That is definitely Uranus in Gemini at work.

David had a lovely creative fiery stellium in Leo. His Moon, Pluto and Saturn resided in his 7th house. He had a need to create these larger than life elaborate characters such as Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and The Thin White Duke to hide behind. It wasn’t until he matured as a person and a musician that he dropped the act and became David Bowie. This stellium made a harmonious trine to his Midheaven and his Venus. His Venus was snuggled up to his 10th house accounting for the tremendous success he had throughout the 46 years of his career. His work was always well received and popular with his fans. Even in his death, his last album Blackstar shot to the number one spot on the billboards displacing Adele.

Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid was the first black model to break barriers for women of colour in the 1970s. Her delicate bone structure and striking, statuesque appearance give her an aura of a Nubian princess. Her success story is something straight out of a movie. She was discovered by American photographer, Peter Beard at the  University of Nairobi, while studying political science. She agreed to being photographed in exchange for payment of her tuition fees. From these pictures she became an over night success.

She spent 14 years as a high fashion model but in 1989 she decided to walk away from the modeling industry for good to start her own cosmetics company, Iman Cosmetics. Iman Cosmetics focuses on skincare products for women of colour. Iman Cosmetics is a US$25-million-a-year business. She has both beauty and brains.

Iman was born on July 25th, 1955 in Mogadishu, Somalia. Her time of birth is unknown. Iman has her Sun, Jupiter, Mars and Pluto in dramatic and majestic Leo. This may explain why she evokers this regal quality about her. Didn’t she play Nefertiti, Queen of Egypt in a Michael Jackson video?

Iman has a charming, graceful Moon in Libra, ruled by Venus the goddess of beauty. This Moon is widely conjuncting Neptune the planet of illusion. Is it any wonder that Iman ended up in the modeling industry? The cosmetic industry was tailor made for her. After all, the beauty industry is all smoke and mirrors which is very Neptunian.

I have to wonder if David and Iman spent hours in conversation about the proper make-up application techniques. Certainly they were both experts.

I love this couple! They are, hands down, one of the best examples of amazingly, great, sexy synastry, on every level. It is straight out of a textbook. This is truly a love story for the ages. I only wish I knew Iman’s birth time.

One of the classic marriage indicators in synastry is having your partner’s luminaries in your 7th house of relationships. Another classic signature is having your Sun conjunct your partner’s Moon. David and Iman have both. David had a pretty full Leo 7th house. Iman’s Leo Sun conjuncted David’s Leo Moon and 7th house cusp. Her Leo Jupiter, Mars and Cancer Uranus sat right on top of David’s Moon, Saturn and Pluto. Muy caliente! These are very intense sexual aspects. This was love at first sight.

I love the fact that David’s Saturn was in there amongst the other planets. Saturn is the glue that holds relationships together. It does not take anything lightly. For David, this was no roll in the hay. This was the real thing. He wanted to seal the deal. He proposed to Iman twice before she accepted.

To add to this harmonious aspect, was the fact that, Iman’s Sun, Jupiter, Mars and Uranus all trined David’s Venus and Midheaven in Sagittarius. They were good for each other’s careers and public image.

It doesn’t end there, though. Iman’s Cancer Venus and Mercury opposed David’s Sun/Mars conjunction in Capricorn. Her Venus/Mercury trined David’s Jupiter in Scorpio. This is a lovely, tender and fortuitous aspect that helped communication and cooperation. Oppositions can be challenging but they create an enormous amount of attraction. If the polarity can be balanced, it creates a sense of wholeness. Iman’s north node conjuncted David’s Scorpio Jupiter. Their shared destiny was to enrich each others lives with kindness and generosity.

There is more. Iman’s Moon widely conjuncted David’s Neptune in Libra. It also trined David’s Uranus in Gemini. There are many testimonials on the internet of how he worshipped the ground she walked on but it was a mutual admiration society. The inner planet person is always captivated by the outer planet person. She was in awe of him. He inspired her. There was a strong compassionate, intuitive and emotional bond between these two as indicated by this configuration.

As a disclaimer, I would always caution and say that there is no such thing as perfect synastry between two charts. David and Iman are no exception. Iman’s Moon/Saturn in Libra conjunction squared David’s Sun/Mars conjunction in Capricorn. They may have come to blows occasionally. Iman could have been viewed as the disciplinarian in the relationship. They may have been disconnected emotionally from time to time. She was interviewed on a show and admitted that David is “too English” to fight. She was the hotheaded one. I suppose there has to be some spice in the relationship.

After analyzing this super couple’s charts, it is clear that these two were soul mates and they completed each other. All of us feel the loss of the traveling Starman but none as much as his wife of 23 years. She lost the love of her life. We lost a musical maven.

Do you remember a guy that’s been
In such an early song
I’ve heard a rumour from Ground Control
Oh no, don’t say it’s true

Ashes to ashes, funk to funky
We know Major Tom’s a junkie
Strung out in heaven’s high
Hitting an all-time low