A Look into Audre Lorde's Natal Chart
February 11, 2020
Happy Black History Month! Black people's accomplishments and contributions to culture, history, and social justice should be celebrated year-round, but February is a special time to honor Black American's culture, resilience, and radical resistance. To celebrate, I'll be doing a series of posts analyzing the natal charts of incredible Black women who have made an impact on our world.
To start, I'll be looking at Audre Lorde's birth chart. Audre Lorde was a Black lesbian, feminist, poet, librarian, and activist whose work was instrumental to the Civil Rights Movement and lesbian feminist movements. Her thoughts about existing at the intersection of marginalized identities are widely quoted, and for good reason! Her precision in language is matched by her passion for speaking out about the injustices faced by Black women with queer sexualities, illnesses, and other oppressed identities.
Lorde published many novels, poems, and essays throughout her life. Her 1984 collection of non-fiction pieces published in Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches is one of her most famous and widely studied works. She published The Cancer Journals in 1980, which details her experience with breast cancer and mastectomy. To describe her 1982 novel Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, Lorde coined the term "biomythography" to encapsulate the fluid nature of "biography" and "mythology."
Everything she worked towards in her life centered a queer, womanist ethic. In 1981, Audre Lorde and Barbara Smith founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press to uplift the literary contributions of queer women of color. Lorde worked tirelessly to combat racism in the United States as well as abroad. She created Sisterhood in Support of Sisters in South Africa, an organization that supported black South African women experiencing apartheid.
Audre Lorde had affairs with numerous women but maintained a long-term relationship with Frances Clayton, a white lesbian and professor of psychology. Lorde had two children, Elizabeth and Johnathan, with her ex-husband before they divorced in 1970. Another one of her notable friendships is with Pat Parker, a fellow lesbian, poet, and activist. Their letters have been compiled by Julie R Enszer in Sister Love: The Letters of Audre Lorde and Pat Parker 1974-1989.
Audre Lorde passed away from cancer on November 17th, 1992 at the age of 58. Before her death, she participated in an African naming ceremony where she acquired the name Gamba Adisa, which translates to "Warrior: She Who Makes Her Meaning Known."
Audre Lorde passed away from cancer on November 17th, 1992 at the age of 58. Before her death, she participated in an African naming ceremony where she acquired the name Gamba Adisa, which translates to "Warrior: She Who Makes Her Meaning Known."
Audre Lorde's natal chart, calculated by Astrodienst
Born February 18th, 1934 @ 9:00PM in New York, NY
Tropical Astrology / Placidus House System
Audre Lorde was an Aquarius Sun, Taurus Moon, and Libra Ascendant. Her tropical chart is composed of mostly Air placements and Fixed/Cardinal modalities. Right off the bat, her heavy Air sign chart indicates a natural talent with all things mercurial: she's a gifted writer, communicator, and orator. She articulates her thoughts and feelings with natural ease. A Mercury in Pisces reveals a deep sensitivity to language and its effect on other people. I'm sure Lorde understood how impactful words can be on the imagination, heart, and spirit. Her ideals carry the watery undertones of Pisces energy: sensitive, spiritual, and romantic.
There's a heavy concentration of planets in her 5th house. The 5th house represents the child-like spirit, romantic affairs, creativity, and how joy manifests in one's life. Her 5th house is in Aquarius and there's a stellium of planets concentrated there. A stellium is when 3 or more planets are in the same sign or house. The North Node, Saturn, Sun, and Mars are all close together in this house, indicating a pronounced emphasis on joy, pleasure, and creativity.
Looking at Lorde's life and legacy, it's easy to first see the struggles she fought against like racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, and ableism. According to the 5th house, she's driven to speak out about systems of oppression because they stifle the expression of happiness. Having Saturn in Aquarius here indicates a responsibility towards fostering child-like wonder and jubilance, not just in herself but also in her community. Lorde was sensitive to how an oppressive society squandered the fun out of life; she took it upon herself to help people feel empowered so they could see the beauty in freedom.
At the same time, however, wherever Saturn is in one's natal chart indicates where they face challenges. Saturn is a planet of hard lessons, often delaying or interrupting aspects of life in order to teach someone how to better channel their energy.
With this planet located in the Lorde's 5th house, she likely experienced blockages with her creative and sexual energy. She might have also struggled to recognize the needs of her inner child. She talked about how difficult her home life was growing up; her parents were both emotionally distant from her and hyper-focused on their real estate business. This is reaffirmed by a 4th house placement in Capricorn. Usually, this indicates that the home environment was strict, cold, and not very yielding to the whims of a highly-expressive child.
Based on what she created in her lifetime, it seems Lorde found ways to access her creativity through her work, not only as a writer but as an activist too. It's no wonder people continue to find inspiration in her work. Individuals with an emphasis on the 5th house have a passion for life that's infectious!
Audre Lorde standing in front of a chalkboard that says "Women are powerful and dangerous."
One major aspect in Audre Lorde's chart is a T-square. This is an aspect between three planets that form a T-shape; in her case, the aspect is between Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto. Jupiter opposes Uranus and both Jupiter and Uranus square Pluto. This is a hard aspect to have in a birth chart because it indicates immense stress and tension between these planets; the planet that shares two squares (which is Pluto, in Lorde's case) bears most of the tension.
T-squares reveal major points of disarray but also perseverance. They can be building blocks to success but also present challenges to overcome and grow from. This configuration places heavy emphasis on Audre Lorde's Pluto in Cancer, which rests in her 10th house of career and achievement. Pluto in this house indicates immense power and drive towards achieving success and notoriety. Considering Lorde's iconic status both in the past and present, I'd say the goal of a 10H Pluto has been realized.
Her Pluto was the planet that reconciled the tension between the planets in opposition: Jupiter and Uranus. The fact that these planets are all in Cardinal signs highlights Audre's quick wit and drive to meddle; and by meddle, I mean confront oppressive structures in society. She was never one to shy away from the challenges of power, and in fact, harbored an active distrust of authority. Her career is characterized by her immense drive alongside her disdain for harmful power structures.
Jupiter rests in her 1st house (also known as the Ascendant), which is the house of the self and influences other people's perceptions. Any planet close to this angle will be extra prominent because it's proximity to the Ascendant is hyper-visible in someone's identity. Jupiter is the planet of expansion, learning, and teaching. With a Jupiter in Libra, Audre Lorde's idea of expanding her sense of self was likely through Venusian interests: the arts, poetry, beauty, and love.
Her Jupiter opposes Uranus in Aries, which exists in the 7th house of long-term partnerships. This aspect indicates an unorthodox approach to everything from relationships to ideals. Audre Lorde was a rebel, confronting outdated modes of thinking and being. As a result, she was a social outcast, which can be both a blessing and a curse.
On one hand, she attracted like-minded people who appreciated her quirky and innovative nature. But because she was so radical, she was often alienated from social groups. It's no secret Lorde felt isolated in the feminist movement, mostly because it was dominated by white women who refused to incorporate racial justice in their praxis.
Long-time friends Pat Parker and Audre Lorde laughing and being absolutely adorable.
Another placement I find interesting in Audre's chart is her Chiron in Taurus, located in her 8th house. Her essay "Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power" is the first thing I thought of when I saw Chiron there. In "Uses of the Erotic," she explores how the erotic in a heteropatriarchal context is desensitized to feeling. She defines eroticism beyond the sexual, an experience associated with joy, freedom, and the pleasure of feeling (again, more echos of her 5th house stellium).
Her ability to see beyond the surface of eroticism, often depicted in visual culture as "pornography" reflects what the 8th house is all about: sex, death, and taboo. Chiron is an asteroid that indicates one's wounds but also healing gifts; in the context of the 8th house, Lorde could have struggled with her unique perspective on sexuality. No doubt this is mirrored by her experience as a lesbian, an identity routinely denied and marginalized even today. On a more positive note, this placement manifests itself in Audre's unabashed explorations of sex and taboo, which delve deep into the psychological undertones of intimacy and attraction.
All and all, Audre Lorde was impacted by the various planets, aspects, and placements that existed in her natal chart. It's interesting to see how they connect to her attitudes, perspectives, and actions in her amazing life. But of course, her natal chart isn't a blueprint. It's only another way to understand where she came from and the kind of energies she was working with. Despite being a beloved icon who wrote extensively about her personal life, the only person who really knew Audre Lorde was Audre herself.
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