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Lou Reed – In Memoriam

by Sam Geppi

Lou Reed was an iconic American musician and songwriter. Born on March 2, 1942 in Brooklyn New York, he died on October 27, 2013 of complications from an earlier liver transplant.

He is best known as the lead vocalist and main songwriter of the band “The Velvet Underground”, a musical ensemble formed in New York in the mid-60s. The “Velvets” were also prominent in the scene of avant-garde artist Andy Warhol, their manager. Lou Reed and Warhol formed a creative and personal friendship that lasted decades.

Reed presented a brooding, dark persona which was reflected in the gritty subject matter and people who populated his songs. At a time when other pop or rock ‘n roll stars were singing about normal themes such as love and romance, Reed was writing songs dealing with such issues as heroin addiction, complicated sexual themes, and domestic violence.

His singing voice was not as much "singing" at all, it was more spoken word delivered in a very penetrating monotone.

It seems at least some of the “harsh-realities” In his songs came from a complicated childhood, where at one point he was given electroshock therapy to “cure” his bisexuality.

A quick study of his birth chart shows a powerfully creative individual and also one of accelerated perception and ingenuity. There is no reliable birth time, but there is still much we can see without it. (Editor’s note: Rectification gives a likely Scorpio rising.)

Interestingly, his chart is full of conjunctions, both friendly and unfriendly. Meaning, several of the conjunctions are with Grahas friendly toward each other and in several the Grahas are not. In fact, every planet except Saturn is joined to another. Let’s start with the friendly conjunctions.

The Mercury/Venus conjunction is usually a creative one, bringing together skill (Mercury) with aesthetics and beauty (Venus). Often you will see someone who plays musical instruments with such a Mercury. Both of these planets are at least in friendly dignity, as their ruler Saturn is only four signs away, adding support. Such a position shows creative talent and supports creative collaborations. This conjunction residing in brooding, gritty Capricorn easily accounts for his gravelly voice and a creative style that speaks the harsh realities of life.

There is also an auspicious Jupiter/Mars aspect, in Taurus. This placement brings together courage (Mars) with hope and idealism (Jupiter). These two planets are friendly with each other, but neither are in friendly territory in fixed Taurus. Venus is too far away to offer support, putting Mars in enemy dignity and Jupiter in great enemy dignity. Although fighting for higher principles, themes and values, we also can see how stubbornness and sensual indulgences could have undermined his message and success at times. He struggled with addictions, yet later became a healthy living advocate and tai chi practitioner (Mars). In 2003 Reed summed up his philosophy (Jupiter): "I'm a humanist." "These are really terribly rough times, and we really should try to be as nice to each other as possible." You can’t get more Taurus than that.

The unfriendly conjunctions involve the Sun, Moon and Nodes. Lou Reed was born on the day of a lunar eclipse, with the moon joined Rahu in Leo. Astrologically, the moon shows our perceptive mind and the capacity to receive, feel and integrate. When the moon is joined with Rahu, those perceptions are accelerated and our feeling/emotional body tends to penetrate into others and feel a bit out of our control. If the moon is related to the 10th house, or mingling with other success factors, a Moon/Rahu conjunction may catapult one to fame, as the perceptive mind penetrates mass consciousness. The Moon/Rahu conjunction in Leo certainly gave him notoriety, making him a sort of King in his own right - albeit an “outsider” (Rahu) King. We may also see escapism into fantasy and substance (especially alcohol) problems with this placement.

Lou Reed also has a very tight Ketu/Sun conjunction in Aquarius. Whereas Rahu externalizes through experience, Ketu internalizes through intense scrutiny. Generally a Ketu/Sun placement shows a high level of perfectionism and an individual interested in self-mastery and self-discovery. Yet, it also shows one who understands power and how to use it. In the case of Lou Reed, with Ketu conjunct Sun in Aquarius, he understood the power of the collective, cultural consciousness (Aquarius) and seems to have known his place as a countercultural icon from the very beginning.

It is not uncommon to see such transcendent figures as Lou Reed born near or during eclipses. Like an eclipse itself, figures like Reed, tend to shift paradigms and the acceptable norm very quickly. They seem to be plopped down, out of nowhere, ahead of their time, making an impact. Lou Reed was even more unusual in that he also passed away during an eclipse cycle.

We do not have a birth time, but its fun to speculate. A Scorpio ascendant is very intriguing to this author. With the Scorpio ascendant, the chart is full of Raja Yogas. Of note, the Mars/Jupiter in Taurus now becomes a Raja Yoga with the first and fifth lord joined, in an angle. Also the Moon/Rahu conjunction in Leo would form two very strong Raja Yogas with both the moon and Rahu. Additionally, the dasas of the Raja Yoga planets would have run in a very neat, successive order. This is very much like his life. Since the mid-sixties until the time of his death, he was a revered, successful and transcendent figure.

We do not know for sure if the ascendant is Scorpio or not, but it is interesting to speculate. He certainly has a Scorpio persona, with the dark shades, revealing what is not mentioned in proper circles. He was a real “Nodal Cat”, born on a lunar eclipse, asking us to “Take a Walk on The Wildside”, and clean up the “Dirty Boulevard”.

Rest in Peace, Lou.

Sam Geppi's Biography:

He is the author of The Ascendant-108 Planets of Vedic Astrology, a consistent bestseller on Amazon.com for Vedic astrology. He recently founded the American Academy of Vedic Art and Science as a nexus of Vedic thinking in the west.

He was recently appointed as the main instructor in the AstroVed University of Vedic Sciences Certification Program - a 12 month program initiated by enlightened Master Dattatreya Siva Baba.

He has also contributed to various Astrology and yoga publications, both print and online.

Contact Information:
He may be reached by email at: [email protected]

Read His Jyotish Star Interview



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