Under his own spell: An Astro-Psychology lens on P-Diddy

P-Diddy was born whilst the Moon was in Virgo, which lines up to him having an emotive informed attention to detail. I believe this astrological predisposition enabled him to thrive in the production of music. However, there was also bigger going on why he was able to grow Bad Boy Records to the height of success - having Jupiter conjunct Venus in Libra.

This is an extremely magnetic placement, now think about the magnetism of Biggie’s debut album and hip-hop culture more broadly. This is the placement on his chart that enabled executive buy-in from one end, and community buy-in from the other - and everything in between. And so the money was getting larger, the audience expanding, but so did the Narcissism, misalignment and abusive behaviour.

I’ve been back and forth writing this, I suppose because it’s not common for me to look at somebody’s birth chart through a shadow lens. However, in light of the information presented in Sean Combs: The Reckoning, I wanted to take the opportunity to showcase the breadth of knowledge astrology can provide as a psychoanalytical tool, and provide another framework to the discussion.

The purpose of this article is not to justify abusive behaviour or minimise its impacts, nether is it to make the reader negatively generalise individuals who may share some of the same astrological placements. For instance, there is a focus on the sign of Scorpio in this piece, but that doesn’t mean that all Scorpio’s should be tarnished with the same brush. The reality is, we ALL have Scorpio traits that are more prevalent in certain areas within our selves & life, it all depends on our unique birth chart.

So, this article is not about stereotyping astrological signs, but demonstrating that within planetary interactions across all 12 of the signs exists more of a potential for an individual to possess certain traits, and for the purpose of this article there is a shadow focus.

Neptune in Scorpio

The generation of Neptune in Scorpio transmuted unspoken truths into public statements, challenged norms and in-turn transformed what it meant to be on the world stage - especially Black people at the forefront of music. There were many pioneers of black stardom (mainly in the hip-hop world) who carried the energy of Neptune in Scorpio that persisted from 1956-1970 - from the birth of; Prince, Michael Jackson, P Diddy & Jay Z.

You’re probably thinking what energy did Neptune in Scorpio bring up, so let me describe one angle, and tie it to a conclusion of what black stardom trailblazers born with this placement went on to do during the 80s and 90s.

So, Scorpio in Astrology is the activity that occurs behind the curtain; the unseen, and wherever Neptune is placed it creates layers of fog around what’s truth and what’s illusion. At their core Scorpio and Neptune are both powerful and spiritual facets of the zodiac.

So, knowing the public paths of these trailblazers, and looking through the Neptune in Scorpio lens, we can say that their paths were about - waking up from a slumber (Neptune) of having to cloak their truths (Scorpio), and within their awakening mixing in different levels of fantasisation to their artistic expression (Neptune in Scorpio). Furthermore, their visibility ushered in a counterculture that cashed out on the glorification of authentic expression (Neptune in Scorpio).

Despite it being a placement that was a - slow-burning collective energy that released over 14yrs, it was personal for P-Diddy due to the fact the Sun & Mercury (the self & mind) were also placed in Scorpio on the day of his birth.

His belittlement of people is the shadow side Scorpio because a main fear of this sign is the potential of being overpowered - Scorpio likes to be in control. So the way he has recently been exposed and punished for being a manipulative abuser, I’d argue it’s because he would go to violative lengths to protect his power. In addition, in the documentary he was described as “wanting to be on top and developing a god syndrome” - these are Scorponic aspects, that are more likely to be personified with Neptune, Sun and Mercury placed in there.

That’s the first astrological strike I’m making on P-Diddy’s chart that is a denominator in the unlocking of his inner-monster; the process of Glorification facilitated by the internalisation of Neptune in Scorpio.

We’ve seen that he has made a lot of people feel inferior throughout his life, and Neptune would say this is a tactic to get people to defer responsibility to him. This is also something that sits at the core of Narcissism, but in Astrology it’s a personalisation of Neptune - where deferred responsibility acts as a grant for an individual to deny their issues. The deferral of responsibility now means that they can envision themselves on a rescue mission. It’s kind of like a fantasy of riding the waves of power, but switching your tone when the waves ebb & flow from power to powerless.

A rescue mission is built upon the victim and saviour dynamic & this is a Neptunian process. When genuine victims are being saved from dangerous situations, Neptune illuminates for Astrologers. On the more shadow side, when a person pretences themselves as a saviour and uses the denial of their own problems to subjectively paint people as victims - this is also Neptunian, especially when experienced personally through the sign of Scorpio.

The victim & saviour dynamic has been like a constant internal AND external tennis match for him. Furthermore, having Mercury placed in Scorpio means that acting out of subconscious impulse is all the more important to keep a tab on. Astrologically, I see that emotionally he’s a very calculated person but he is mentally and spiritually confused, and confusion serves deception internally and externally.

So here, I’m making my second astrological strike that is a denominator in the unlocking of his inner-monster; deception. I believe he has deceived, confused his identity and therefore disillusioned others personally and publicly. This notion lends its self to escapism through substances and sex which we’ve been made aware of over the past year or so (which is also Neptune in Scorpio themes by the way).

So let’s move onto another noteworthy placement on his chart in this context -

Chiron in Aries

With Chiron (the Wounded Healer) I like to think of it as two versions - a version of you that picks at the wound, and a version of you that cares for the wound. Both can be active at the same time, I would say this is how many of us live in a capitalist, westernised society. But depending on your level of consciousness as it pertains to self and your perception of healing, determines what version of you gets more air time.

Chiron in Aries indicates identity wounds that can be healed through gaining a sense of autonomy and pioneering on a chosen path. Which P-Diddy did in hip-hop and fashion right? Sounds pretty positive, however if we pair this with his Scorpio placements that indicate; hungriness for power, a god complex and deceptive tendencies, the positive growth becomes questionable through his many actions of attempting to control the autonomy of others, that’s where power precedes abuse!

Let me sum up all 5 of his personal placements here, and it will allow us to understand the manifestation of Chiron in Aries more clearly.

The desire Diddy had to; facilitate harmony in music, fashion and entertainment (Venus in Libra) by working behind the scenes (Scorpio Sun/Mercury) and becoming resourceful to the granular details through producing (Virgo Moon) was in CONFRONTATION with the EGO desire to be the public face of an industry shift (Mars at 29 degrees of Capricorn). Remember, his soul has wounds in its actualising of its human form (Chiron in Aries).

And thats my third and final astrological strike that is a denominator in the unlocking of his inner-monster; being a public figure acted as salt on the wound of his identity. I’d argue that his gut wanted to be effective behind the scenes, but through his ego and hungriness for power he convinced himself that he wanted to be a public figure. So I’d argue that through his personalisation of Neptune, somewhere along the way he confused fantasy as reality, and paired with his Chiron in Aries I’d further argue that -

He confused peers as opponents, friends as romantic competitors and women as proxies for men. He confused healing as destruction, harm as love, power with control & earthly status with spiritual rank.

He was at turmoil within himself, and so he was double-dealing on life, reversing its processes. Telling himself that secrecy is the basis of power. Not realising that secrecy is fragile when you cause harm to others, and karma will bark back even if you’re under your own spell. I haven’t even mentioned how the documentary shown that anybody around him who questioned his “spell” / his power, he felt threatened and cut them off. Only surrounding himself with enablers (narcissism core)!

Ok, so let me begin wrapping this up, because I could go on and on.

During the time of his rise, Diddy was ripe and ready for the systemic holders of music, media and fashion to monetise off hip-hop. With him being born with Mars placed at the 29 critical degree point of Capricorn it was within his likeliness to disrupt mainstream structures, but as much as he was a disrupter; he was also a destructor, not only to others but to himself.

I propose that self-deception is at the core of his downfall, and this has been externalised by his glorification to the point of manipulating others. Especially whilst undermining the activeness of his identity wounds that being in the public eye maintained. These have externalised into a Narcissistic, abusive character who has bust himself open to feel powerful, to the point of delirium.

I’ve used his birth chart (without a birth time) as prompts to direct the discussion of his demeanour, behaviour and actions, that I mostly learned through the documentary which I am aware is orchestrated by another person known for his abuse of power.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading and please comment your thoughts that may have sparked about the topic, or the framework of AstroPsychology

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