While on one of my many trawls through the library, I discovered the beautiful prose poem ‘His Day is Done‘ written by Maya Angelou on the occasion of Nelson Mandela’s death.
It’s a heartfelt expression of the gifts of his life.
After his passing, much was written about the many things he achieved, but a common thread was his passion for education, as well as his sense of mercy and grace.
Checking his chart, we can see two stand out astrological configurations that might allude to this.
While there is some speculation about the accuracy of his birth time, dignified Jupiter in Cancer potentially rules his Sagittarius ascendant. Many Sagittarius rising people have a love of ideas and knowledge and are passionate about sharing them widely.
That lovely Jupiter in Cancer though is intensified by a conjunction to power planet Pluto. This alignment could be interpreted as someone who becomes a crusader for the sharing of knowledge, one who respects the power of information and education.
A popular quote of Mandela’s is included in Angelou’s book that illustrates this:
‘Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world’.
Mandela is quoted as saying this in the late 80s and 90s. It aptly reflects the Jupiter conjunct Pluto in Cancer aspect: Jupiter for the education piece, Pluto for the powerful weapon and change the world elements.
In addition, Mandela has Mercury and Saturn conjunct in Leo. I discussed the energy of Mercury/Saturn in ‘In Praise of Standards’. It describes an energy that’s all about attention to detail, or the ‘rightness’ of language, expression and communication. It can show someone who loves the rules (Saturn) of communication (Mercury), and could feed into the powerful respect Mandela had for knowledge, education and teaching.
What are your thoughts on Mandela’s chart?