Amy Winehouse’ would have celebrated her 40th birthday this month, September (born 14th Sept 1983).

She sadly joined the ‘27 Club’ like Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix & Kurt Cobain before her, passing just before her first Saturn return.

Her natal chart is a fascinating example of how unleashing the potential in your natal birth chart is not pre-destined – there is a huge element of how you, the individual, choose to evoke it – fate versus freewill. Sadly with Amy it was an example of where inherent possibility can always flow in 2 opposing directions – towards genius level vocal talent and lyricism and also descent into addiction and self-destruction.

When you fist look at her natal chart her huge talent is immediately obvious in her most influential planet – Mercury (voice/writing) – ruling her Ascendant (Gemini) & Sun (Virgo). Her natal Mercury itself is also conjunct her Sun. This gifted her not only her voice but her Mercurial vibe, I wonder if anyone really knew who Amy was? It was also retrograde – this licensed her to speak without the filter that most people assume whilst growing up.

Sadly it was her powerfully positioned Neptune that overshadowed all this genius – conjunct her Moon and square (crisis) her Sun /Mercury it gifted her the voice that on one hand touched the soul of the collective whilst dragging her into the underworld of addiction with the other.

Unfortunately this influential Neptune (dreams/escapism/addiction) conjunct her Moon (security/ feelings) also sat in her house of relationships. Sadly we saw this unfold in the role that significant others played in her descent into addiction – her search for love, security and belonging in others and the other. I would guess that her addiction wasn’t just to substances but to love and acceptance from men too.

Her Sun/Moon square is often seen in the natal charts of children who grow up under the shadow of difficult divorces – a square is a fighting/warring aspect – the Sun represents the father and the Moon the mother. Often children exposed to this warring as they develop, internalise the struggle and develop an inner dialogue that reflects this battle. They don’t want their parents to be at fault because then it means their world isn’t safe so they look for ways to make it ok by either accepting the fault sits with them or finding escape routes from it – addiction being one of them.

Virgo Sun women are often shining beacons of feminine beauty – Beyoncé is the ultimate example of this – her Sun is in her 12th house of ‘the other’ – so her reflection of this is almost a spiritual expression – she delivers this energy into the collective unconscious here. The Virgo female is archetypally aligned with the Goddess Demeter/Ceres – they epitomise female fertility/ fecundity – harvest time is their domain – the perfection of feminine energy.

However when a Virgo can’t fully embrace their innate nature – a desire to make the world, things and the lives around them better (being of service is important to them) – perfectionism is a word often associated with this sign – it can get really messy and disordered, they almost do the negative things perfectly – and with Amy she sadly did.

I firmly believe that the role of astrology is to help individuals do their chart ‘to the max’. To see potential paths and play a proactive role in creating their future – harnessing the gifts and so called positive aspects whilst by understanding the more tricky placements, doing them too, but with conscious dignity and acceptance.

Take a look at your natal chart – don’t just look at the positive stuff – trines and sextiles are lovely but they have their own innate pitfalls. It’s the conjunctions, oppositions and squares where we do our biggest life work. Strong outer planet aspects are also often feared but we must remember that they have gifts to even if they come with difficult emotions: remember Saturn is where we clear through our Karma and Pluto where we evolve and transform. 

From a spiritual perspective it is believed the role of astrology, is to guide you through life so that you can fully embrace the walk through the both the valleys and hills you encounter on your path – being secure enough to plunge yourself into the depths of despair when they appear whilst celebrating the joys, loves and triumphs when they arise.

Overall it is to live your life with dignity – whatever it throws at you.