Aspects for the week beginning 20 October 2024

Liam Payne (1993 – 2024)

“You know I’ve been takin’ some time

and I’ve been keepin’ to myself

I had my eyes up on the prize

ain’t watching anybody else…

You know I used to be in 1D (Now I’m out, free)

People want me for one thing (that’s not me)”

~ Liam Payne, from “Strip That Down”*

Pop singer Liam Payne tragically died this week falling off a balcony in Buenos Aires, mourned by legions of fans around the world.  He was formerly from the successful band One Direction, which had been put together by Simon Cowell from hopefuls on X-Factor.  He was linked with Cheryl Tweedy/Cole/Fernandez-Versini, and they had a son together, named Bear.

Birth Chart

Liam had some significant conjunctions in his birthchart, two of them exact.  Firstly, the Sun in Virgo exactly conjunct Mercury.  A perfectionist with an eye for detail, perhaps he may have had a tendency to overthink things.  Secondly, the Uranus/Neptune conjunction of his birth year 1993 was exact too, a very complex potion of astrological energies.  Next, Mars conjunct Jupiter, a mix of energy and enthusiasm.  And the last was a loose conjunction, but nonetheless potent, of Pluto (the ruler of Scorpio) rising on a Scorpio Ascendant (that’s a potent and intense concentration of Scorpionic energy).  His Moon was in Aquarius, which like Virgo, finds it hard to let people close.  At the same time, Scorpio has a need for intimacy, so that is a struggle within the dynamics of this birth chart.  In addition, his Sun (and Mercury and Chiron) were conjunct his Midheaven (Careerpoint) in his 10th House of Career, amounting to the Performer Archetype, explaining why he was so focussed on such a career from such an early age.  Other features of his chart include Mars loosely square Uranus (electrical energy) and  Jupiter square Uranus (the Chancer Archetype, willing to take a risk) plus Jupiter square Neptune  (not always sure what to believe in) and a not-easy-to-manage T-square between Saturn, Chiron and Pluto.  In the early years of One Direction, Liam was seen as the “sensible” and “responsible” one, adhering to the Virgoan side of his blueprint, but later he threw off these shackles and accessed his more Scorpionic side.

Life and Career

Payne was born in Wolverhampton.  He excelled at cross country running at school.  A schoolmate who trained with him has quipped that he gave up because he beat Payne, and that set him on the road to music.  A teacher praised Liam for karaoke, which encouraged him, and at the tender age of 14 he applied for X-Factor.  The video of him singing “Fly Me To The Moon” is so poignant, in front of his future wife Cheryl, beaming.  But Simon Cowell advised him to finish his GCSEs and return in two years (he gained 11 GCSEs).   The rest is history: he returned, sang “Cry Me a River”, and was put together by Simon Cowell with four other boys to create the band One Direction (suggested by judge Nicole Scherzinger).  The newly formed band sang the song “Torn”, with Liam delivering the opening line.  Simon’s dramatic effect on Liam’s life is shown in their synastry – for example Simon’s Pluto is conjunct Liam’s Sun/Mercury.  The band came third in that year’s contest, but soon developed a solid fan base.  At the time, Liam’s life was changing in a profound way, as evinced by his Progressed Sun from his 11th House of Boy Bands exactly sextile his natal Pluto rising.

From 2010 to 2016 One Direction achieved global success and had a string of hits, beginning with “What Makes You Beautiful”.  The boys were heartthrobs for their teenage fans, many of those fans now in mourning for Liam, their songs a backdrop to their early lives. Liam later reflected, “When we finished [the TV talent show The X Factor], we thought something might happen, but never anything like this.”

There is a strong karmic element, and even a soul group element, when a successful band comes together in the way they did.  And the decline of a band is also karmic, as when one member (Robbie Williams for Take That), Geri Halliwell (for the Spice Girls) and in the case of One Direction Zayn Malik for One Direction breaks away, a decision he made in 2015.  It is quite an undertaking and responsibility for one member of the group to disrupt the band, and often begin its demise.  Their fortunes had been tied together for so long, and three members of the group were all born in the same year, 1993: Liam, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik.  Liam’s connection with Zayn was strong: his Pluto was exactly sextile Zayn’s Sun, their Jupiters and Uranuses were exactly conjunct, and they had a double whammy of their Neptunes and Uranuses being conjunct.

Liam has spoken about the strain of touring, boredom and loneliness, with just a mini-bar and the temptation to drink in his room.  Zayn has described suffering from an eating disorder and anxiety during those years, due to stress.  They were all so young.

Around the time that Liam was setting out on a solo career, and intending to just focus on songwriting,  he became romantically involved with Cheryl, and she encouraged him in the creation of his first hit “Strip That Down”*inspired by Justin Timberlake and co-written with Ed Sheeran, which did well in the charts (it was released around his Jupiter Return, 19th May 1917).  Cheryl’s Sun in the first decanate of Cancer was sextile with Liam’s in the first decanate of Virgo.

On 22nd March 2017, Cheryl gave birth to their son, Bear, but sadly the relationship broke down the following year.  Though there was compatibility there, there were also planetary forces tearing them apart in their synastry, with Cheryl’s Uranus squaring Liam’s Sun and Liam’s Pluto squaring Cheryl’s Venus.   Bear is now seven years old, and Cheryl has said:

“Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father to our 7-year-old son. A son that now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again.”

Liam participated in many musical collaborations as a solo artist, but music journalist Jordan Paramor has said “he didn’t ever discover who he really was” and “I don’t think he ever felt quite good enough”.  No one knows why his life came to such a tragic end, but we do know he struggled with mental health issues.  He managed to come clean from drink and drugs after attending 100 days in a Louisiana clinic in 2023: “I just kind of feel like I’ve got more of a grip on life and everything that was getting away from me.”  But his hotel room in Argentina was littered with medications (he was taking clonazepam) and a bottle of whiskey was found beside his dead body.  His health was often a weakness in his life, and who knows how that affected him: he was born with issues connected with his kidneys. He told how before the age of four “I was always in hospital having tests done but they couldn’t find out what was wrong. They discovered that one of my kidneys wasn’t working properly and it had scarred. I had to have 32 injections in my arm in the morning and evening to try and make me better.”  In August 2023 he was hospitalized with a kidney infection.

What astrological influences were operating at the time of his death?  Uranus squared his natal Saturn, but of possible more significance, Mars was trine his natal Pluto.  Normally, I would interpret this transit as a surge or powerhouse of energy, but it seems the energy overpowered him.  Perhaps in combination with drink and drugs it was uncontrollable, as he trashed his hotel room just prior to his fall.

Payne was one of the principal songwriters for One Direction especially in melodies, and consequently one of the highest earners.  His voice has been described as: a “warm, supple voice, which soared with ease to a falsetto” (~ Caroline Sullivan, Guardian Obituary).  Perhaps Sharon Osbourne summed up the tragedy of his life in referring to the lack of psychological support for young members of boy bands:

“Liam, my heart aches. We all let you down.”

~ Sharon Osbourne

Aspects

This week’s aspects begin on Tuesday (22nd) with a breakfast-time trine between Mercury and Saturn (in the U.K.).  This combines mental work with practicality, and brings focus and realism to the mental activities.  So it is a good day for making plans.  Serious conversations can also safely take place under this aspect.

At lunchtime, Pluto squares the Sun, which is a deep soul-searching aspect.  It is the sort of aspect which can be looked upon as a gamechanger, or watershed.  So if you are in integrity, you may be able to influence what side the coin lands on.  In recent years, this aspect has brought about political turmoil in the U.K., so focus may be closer to home than the Middle East.  In your own life, continue to seek positive avenues for yourself, and remove yourself from drama.

That evening, the Sun enters Scorpio.  Under the Sun in Libra, we were going for negotiation, but now we need to confront the deeper issues and find more lasting solutions which treat the causes and not just the symptoms of a situation.  For this we need more insight, resolve and conviction, qualities of this sign.  The Scorpio gig is a grittier requirement.  You may see two sides becoming more entrenched in a stand off.

Even later in the evening, Venus trines the North Node, so all the soul-searching of the day may culminate in some resolution and a mellower mood, more confidence in the right path.  This links karma with harmony and love, and reminds us that love is a force underlying a great deal of human interaction, e.g. standing up for one’s country, and protecting loved ones.  It also reminds us of the Hindu law of ahimsa, or harmlessness, required to neutralize and promote good karma.

Well if you blink early in the week and miss the four astrological features, you will have missed them, for now we skip to Friday (25th) where we have a fairly exciting sextile between Mars and Uranus, which promises dynamism for the day.  Engineering especially benefits from this aspect, but that also includes social engineering.  Electricity and Astrology are other areas which can be stimulated by this combination.  Cars, mechanics, mechanical goods and household appliances may receive a boost or a renewal.

That’s it for the week, so as you can see, you can do your own thing mid-week!

The week in bullet points:

• Tuesday – the early bird catches the worm; indigestion at lunchtime; look at the deeper issues; harmonious karma
• Friday – sparky and dynamic