Two years ago, we checked the birth charts of hundreds of musicians to learn more about a new astrological technique. Back then, Avicii's chart stood out because of an intense Pluto. The name Avicii actually means 'Lowest level of Buddhist Hell' and Pluto is of course the King of the Underworld. Here's a closer look at Tim Bergling's birth chart.
A week ago, on april 20, Avicii died. One of the most remarkable things he left behind besides his music is a documentary about his not so happy life as a dj called True Stories. Knowing that Avicii didn't survive his musical career, this documentary now feels as if Werner Herzog directed some post-modern Scandinavian reality drama.
Tim Bergling was born in Stockholm, Sweden on 8 september 1989. Altho we don't have a birthtime, we can still try to paint an astrological picture, but certain elements will be missing. We'll check the fixed stars, the golden aspects of the planets and the Muse-asteroids (a homegrown technique), the regular aspects between the planets and asteroids and the constellation-based zodiac, and we'll look at Saturn's return and the sky on the 20th of april.
Fixed stars
The heliacal rising and setting stars are the most important fixed stars. Avicii's rising star is Alphard, the Heart of the Snake in the constellation Hydra. Sualocin is the setting star. For Alphard, Bernadette Brady gives this: "To lead a life close to the edge, or to seek intense emotional encounters". Alphard is also related to poisoning, death by poisoning and drug abuse. On the positive side, it gives wisdom and musical, artistic appreciation. For the setting star Sualocin Brady gives "A tendency to rely on your natural talents".
Golden Aspects (or Phi-angles)
The Golden aspects are a kind of measure of the relative strength of each planet (or asteroid) in a chart. Geocentrically (from the perspective of the Earth), they point to the strength of the planets in your day to day life, what's happening on the outside so to speak. Heliocentrically (the Sun) they say something about your inside: the deep essential layers of your mind and soul and your destiny.
Geocentric (orb = 3, noon chart)
9 PL
6 MO
5 SO, ME, JU, SA, NE
4 MA, CH
3 UR
2 VE
1 GC
Heliocentric
8 PL
5 UR
4 ME
3 JU, CH
2 SO, SA, GC
1 VE, MA, NE
Both geocentrically and heliocentrically, Avicii's planetary chart is dominated by Pluto. This points (again) to intense emotions, obsession, and potentially death. Our own research has shown that in the chart of a musician, a strong Pluto can also be related to the invention of a new musical style that completely takes over on a global level. Examples would be Elvis Presley (rock & roll), Charlie Parker (bebop) and King Tubby (dub). To be honest, we don't think Avicii's historical influence will be strong enough for him to be compared to Elvis or King Tubby, but of course we could be wrong. Also note that both Elvis Presley and Charlie Parker died because of too much music biznis and substance abuse. And King Tubby was shot by a petty robber. Let's just say that a strong Pluto can be quite dangerous and unfortunately, Avicii's Pluto was very strong. It even shows up in his artist name! Here's what that deepest level of Buddhist hell might look like...
And here's Pluto's underworld. Which is basically the same place...
It doesn't even matter that the Pope recently declared that hell does not really exist. There still is such a thing as a psychological hell, which can't be denied, not even by the Vatican.
Muses
The Golden Aspects technique can also be used to measure the relative strength of asteroids. If we look at the asteroids for the traditional Greek Muses (and throw in a few related asteroids) there's again a geocentric perspective and a heliocentric perspective.
Geocentrically, Avicii's main Muse is Erato, the Muse that made it easy for him to come up with great romantic songs and gave him his talent for creating melodies. Sappho and Klio are also quite strong. Perhaps Sappho points to the tunes he made for his exceptionally pretty and sexy girlfriends. Klio on the other hand is about carrying a history of problems around and not being able to let go (Lady Gaga and David Bowie are other examples of artists with a strong Klio).
Heliocentrically, his main Muse is Melpomene a.k.a. the Blues Muse. This points to a deeply felt sadness or even depression. According to the Muses, Avicii was a romantic and relatively happy musician on the outside but his inside and his destiny were a few shades darker.
Classic aspects
Saturn square Mercury points to Avicii's style of communication: a bit insecure and blocked, coming across as introverted and colored by anxieties. Alcohol consumption solved these issues and made him feel more relaxed.
Saturn opposite Jupiter creates a kind of oscillation between the extremes of the succesfull Jupiterian party animal and the insecurities of a hard working Saturnian who probably feels obliged to always say yes to his manager.
Mercury square Jupiter is another aspect that clouded his judgement when it came to dealing with the music business. People with this aspect tend to promise more than they can actually deliver.
Saturn conjunct Neptune is also quite important. This relatively rare aspect can definitely point to artistic talent, giving concrete form (Saturn) to artistic imagination (Neptune). This was actually very much Avicii's style of making records: imagining or even hearing a complete musical concept or a song in his mind (Neptune) and then getting it all on tape in the studio by directing a bunch of musicians as good as he possibly could (Saturn). But this conjunction can also be a sign of a confusing (Neptune) relationship with the music industry (Saturn) or an unhealthy mix of hard work (Saturn) and abuse of alcohol and dangerously addictive prescription drugs (Neptune).
Asteroids
Erato conjunct Sun: there's that important Muse again, very strong.
Icarus conjunct Venus: the classic story of flying too high and falling down because of the love of money (the music industry).
Eros conjunct Pluto: Irresistibly sexy.
Virtus conjunct the North Node: trying to be a good guy.
Fanatica conjunct the South Node: working too hard.
Veritas conjunct the South Node: naive about hidden agendas.
Sun trine Chaos: potentially an upsetting aspect.
Neptune trine Lie: potentially a confusing aspect.
Icarus trine North Node: falling down after flying too high.
Industria square North and South Node: working too hard.
Neptune sextile Philagoria: he could handle any stadium after a few drinks with his Las Vegas-inspired next level show.
Constellation-based zodiac
Sun in Leo is feeling fine, a royal position for a famous pop star.
Moon is probably in Scorpio, repeating once again the theme of intense emotion and obsession, this can be a difficult place.
Mercury in Virgo is well placed: good with words, eye for detail, controlled, a good organizer, appreciates orderliness, diy, possibly taking too much responsibility.
Venus in Virgo: quiet, sensitive, loner.
Mars in Leo/Virgo: probably a bit of both.
Jupiter in Gemini: using intelligence to get ahead, and to improve musical skills.
Saturn, Uranus and Neptune in Sagittarius: philosophical, imaginative, intuitive, idealistic.
Complications and conclusions
When musicians die around their 27th or 28th birthday, the 27 Club syndrome, or Saturn's return naturally pops up. Since Avicii was taking a well deserved break during his Saturn return, he actually managed to outlive other tragic heroes of the music industry like Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse by a couple of months, but the Saturn return thing is most definitely an important factor here.
Having said that...
Since Pluto is actually a lot stronger than Saturn in Avicii's birth chart (see the Golden Aspects) it would not be surprising if the direct cause of his death was related to Pluto. As it happens, there was a Mars-Pluto conjunction forming in the sky when he died, suggesting violent action, possibly suicide (this suspicion hasn't been confirmed yet). The Mars-Pluto conjuction is notorious and it's related to an increase in violent crime and deaths. It's 'influence' can actually be measured statistically using big data related to violence and crime.
