Paco  Rabanne (1934 – 2023)

“I have always had the impression of being a time accelerator, of going as far as is reasonable for one’s time and not indulge in the morbid pleasure of the known things, which I view as decay.”

~ Paco Rabanne

The fashion designer Paco Rabanne died this week at the age of 88.  He was a textbook Aquarian in character, but fascinates also in his recall of his various past lives.

Birth Chart

Paco Rabanne is an Astrologer’s dream, because everywhere you turn this non-conformist conforms to all the Aquarian stereotypes!  He was futuristic (though was said not to regard himself as one – the classic Aquarian arguing that black is white!), unusual, and rebellious.  With the Sun exactly square Chiron in his chart, he enjoyed putting square pegs into round holes – he famously made clothes out of unwearably metal objects.  His Moon conjunct Uranus increased the Aquarian lode on his chart, bestowing great imagination.  Mercury conjunct Mars, represented the “Inner Critic” in him.  His sensation-seeking Mars exactly opposite Neptune is a key feature in his chart, and plays a role in some of his key astrological progressions for events in his life.  That he was self-possessed and in charge of his life is partly down to his Moon in Aries, and Jupiter trine Saturn – he was able to make judgements that served him.  Jupiter closely opposite Uranus, gave him the “Chancer” Archetype, always pushing boundaries.  He also liked Power (Jupiter exactly square Pluto).  Jupiter in Libra in his 5th House indicated great creativity, artistic and fashion talents, and it was trine his Midheaven, so easily put to use in his career.  But a stunning almost exact triple conjunction of Saturn/North Node/Midheaven in Aquarius tells a great deal about his story, and ensured that his conventional/unconventional career was exactly aligned with his karmic mission, and pushing forward into the future.  This triple conjunction also trined his Ascendant, making his life work more powerfully.

Life and Career

Paco Rabanne was born in the Basque region of Spain.  His mother worked as chief seamstress at Balenciaga, but his father  was executed during the Spanish Civil War, and his mother moved the family to Paris when Paco was aged five.  He trained in Architecture (one of the classic professions for Aquarius) and worked for ten years at a firm which developed reinforced concrete (represented in his chart by Saturn on his Midheaven).

In his spare time he made sketches for jewellers and fashion houses in Paris, and by 1966 he established his own fashion house.  He made his reputation in his  manifesto of “12 unwearable dresses in contemporary materials” in that year.  The dresses were made of metal, paper and plastic, and had a space age style (again, Aquarius).  At the time, his progressed Sun was entering Aries in his 10th House, denoting a very individual expression.  In 1968, his fashion designs were used for Jane Fonda in the film Barbarella (an Aquarian Archetype if there ever was one).   In the same year, he began marketing his trade mark perfumes, with the Spanish fashion and fragrance company, Puig.  He gave up fashion in 1999, but was a keen follower of Nostradamus, whose predictions ended in that year, and one of his own predictions failed to materialize in the same year.

Past Lives

He published a book in 1994, entitled “Has the Countdown Begun?  Through Darkness to Enlightenment.”  It was around that time that his past lives began to be publicized.  he would have recently had his second Saturn Return, and a transit of Saturn to his North Node and Midheaven, and this may have been a factor in his decision to make a stand on the material about his life, and to release information about visions he had had from early life.  It proved shocking (again, an Aquarian tendency), and led to some question over his sanity.

I wrote in a blog in 2011:

“One of the fascinating stories about Altair comes from the Paris fashion guru Paco Rabanne, who says he came from this “crystal planet” several thousand years ago.  In pre-Atlantean days, he said “`I travelled to Earth from the planet Altair. I simply came to help organise civilisation on this planet. There is no great mystery to it. Logistically speaking,’ he added, `that trip was simply a matter of applied physics.’  This story appeared in articles from the early 1990s and he has written about it in his books.”  The position of the Fixed Star Altair is the first degree of Aquarius.

He claimed to be 75,000 years old.  This may be fanciful to some, but not to past life therapists.  The books of Dolores Cannon (“The Convoluted Universe”) Parts 1 – 5 are an in-depth testament to  this sort of material.

Other lives mentioned by him involved the murder of Tutankhamun, knowing Jesus in a previous life, and prostitution at the time of Louis XV.  In his mystical life, he claimed to have seen God three times, and to have been visited by aliens.

He was undoubtedly a visionary, and his fashion house saw him as inspiring a future of limitless possibilities.  Whether or not you believe in his space age fashion and extraordinary spiritual claims, he must have opened a few minds, in his time.

“That radical, rebellious spirit set him apart”

~ Jose Manuel Albesa, fashion president of Puig

Aspects

This morning in the early hours Venus was square to Mars, which may have produced sensuous dreams!  You may find during the day that you feel inclined to let your hair down a little, inhibitions loosened.  This square may also have a bearing on the battle of the sexes (within, or interpersonal).  If you are creative on an artistic or musical vibe, you may introduce a little cheekiness into your work. This aspect may produce some tension, but there is also tension gathering for the Full Moon.

At tea time, there is a Full Moon at 16 degrees Leo, so another stand off between the male and female principles (i.e. the Moon opposes the Sun).  Moon in Leo can be dramatic, and bring about power struggles.  But Leo is creative, and can write its own screenplay, especially if working in a balanced way within a group.  Interestingly, the disgraced ex-Prime Minister Liz Truss, a Leo, is launching her comeback today, which I don’t think is a good idea.  There usually is a crest of emotion at the peak of the Full Moon.  So this Full Moon may leave you with material to ponder…

Tomorrow (Monday 6th) brings a much easier aspect, that of Mercury sextile Neptune, ushering an influx of intense imagination.  This aspect will assist you in refining your mindset, because our minds will be open to receiving higher guidance more easily.  Delicate conversations and channelling will also be made easier.  Artistic efforts may also be rewarded.

The constructive vibe continues on Wednesday (8th) in the shape of another sextile, that of Venus with Uranus.  Whereas Mercury sextile Neptune can be a very inward process, Venus sextile Uranus is more social and may produce more outward manifestations.  For example, a chance meeting on a walk in the park or while out shopping is not out of the question, and may result in an impromptu coffee interlude.  Sometimes Venus-Uranus meetings can be strange or seem random.  Venus sextile Uranus is on the pleasantly uplifting side of the equation, and can bring reunions.  The three S’s come to mind: spontaneity, synchronicity and serendipity.

Friday (10th) brings greater challenge, with Mercury conjunct Pluto, with a need to pull together your most profound ideas and leave behind any wishy washy thinking.  This conjunction may have the effect concentrating the mind, possibly seeming to make the task in hand more difficult, but actually giving it more meaning, depth and thought.  This conjunction brings great scrutiny but goes deep psychologically.  Conversations and communications deepen in nature, and causes of situations and circumstances may be uncovered, such as motives.  We all become detectives.

Time for a change of mindset on Saturday (11th), when Mercury leaves methodical Capricorn and enters futuristic Aquarius.  We might all take a leaf out of Paco Rabanne’s book (but which one?!).  This is about big, bold envisioning of the future.  Perhaps there are ideas we have not quite been ready to accept before this point.

The week in bullet points:

  • Today – the battle of the sexes
  • Monday – intense imagination
  • Wednesday – stimulating meetings
  • Friday – deep thought and communication
  • Saturday – space age thinking
Date: Feb 5th, 2023 · Comments RSS · Tags: Obituary