reading the astrology: bob marley x the one love movie
Growing up with the spirit of Bob Marley in my household, and being an Aquarius myself, of course I’ve pulled up the natal chart on the day he was born before. But it was the 2024 February 14th release of the One Love musical drama that pushed me to use an astrology framework of his life as we know it.
So before I get into how I believe Bob Marley was a prophet for the Age of Aquarius, lets focus on another part of the chart that illuminated to me which was the opposition between Neptune (in Libra) & Venus (in Aries).
So, the placement of Neptune tells us about our spiritual antennas - what we are attuned to in the higher realms and in what way we are wired to the higher stream of consciousness.
Bob Marley was part of the generation of Neptune in Libra. You’ve probably heard that Libra is the sign of relationship, but may have not dug deeper to understand that Libra is the sign of partnership between our earthly and spiritual self.
The process of harmonising is very much Libra’s domain. As an archetype Libra is also understood as the peacemaker. With Neptune being truth beyond fogginess being a global voice of peace was therefore a likely potential for Bob, especially since he had Venus on the opposite side in Aries.
If Venus is creative expression, then Neptune is the spiritual place that expression is channelled from. Generally, we would say Venus would struggle to express itself in Aries but harmonising Neptune on the opposite side for Bob Marley, was holding his Venus accountable. And so he expressed himself through the fire.
And this is where the intensity of the opposition comes in because Venus is an agent of our sense of safety and security. With Venus being in Aries when Bob Marley was born, he definitely felt the heat. Not only is the theme song to this placements his Catch a Fire song, but we know the risk he put himself at (Venus in Aries) by expressing spiritual truths (Neptune in Libra). This is shown in the movie within his determination to perform two days after his attempted assassination.
To wrap up this Venus and Neptune opposition, it made me think about how actualising his Rastafarian spirit reduced the insecurity of his biracial identity, yet it also increased his physical risk. Having a white dad and being Rastafarian, were both characteristics highly susceptible to harsh scrutiny in his country of origin. When I meditated on these placements on this Aries and Libra axis of his chart it’s as if I could hear them whispering “My spiritual identity harmonises me yet its magnetism is warlike. My spirit is a mediator but because I am that I am, my expression is invincible.”
Now for the Aquarius analysis, and if you want a working model of Aquarius energy, Bob Marley is a great template. His prophetic nature can’t be denied. His self (Sun) and mind (Mercury) were both tuned into collective consciousness (Aquarius). What particularly stood out to me when looking at his Aquarius placements was that Mercury sits at 2 degrees while the sun was at 17 degrees. In other words, his message (Mercury) comes before his self (Sun). Since Aquarius is the sign that’s ‘for the people’, we see this in his dedication to performing and sharing a message to unify the people despite endanger and the perception of Rastafarianism during that time. He persisted to share words of wisdom and faith during civil unrest.
On the opposite side of the fixed Aquarius axis is fire sign Leo. Leo acts as the spotlight and Aquarius is the act of being on stage for the collective, as a global performer it’s safe to say that this axis was strongly activated in his life. So it would be relevant to look at if there were any placements in Leo when he was born, and there is, he was born a part of Pluto in Leo generation between 1938 - 1957. This is where it gets interesting for me because I start to think about how he was an Age of Aquarius prophet.
Astrologically, this becomes clear because of the February 14th 2024 release of his musical biography movie during Pluto sitting at 0 degrees of Aquarius, conjunct his mercury placement. His message said I’m still timeless! Pluto is the slowest moving planet in the zodiac, and so since Bob was born in 1945 it’s taken seven decades for Pluto to transgress into the opposite sign it was at when he was born, and it’s now in Aquarius between 2024 - 2044.
When I listen to Bob Marley’s lyrics, I can hear the Age of Aquarius between the lines. It’s loud for me from his 1979 Survival album lyrics “In this age of technological inhumanity (survival) Scientific atrocity (survivors) Atomic misphilosophy (survival) Nuclear misenergy (survivors) It's a world that forces lifelong insecurity.” Baring in mind, this was way before smart technology integrated into society with us. Are we not now at the peek of technological inhumanity? Congo. Gaza. This is what I mean when I say Bob Marley was a prophet for the current times that we find ourselves in during this Age of Aquarius.
Do you see what Im getting at? Pluto’s placement opens a portal of transformation and so what cycles are being completed on a 180degree axis? The world premiere of the Bob Marley One Love movie is one of them.
To conclude, during these times we are in we should be looking beyond people who were born with Pluto in Leo like Bob Marley, but also at those who were active in their pursuit for transformation during that 1938 - 1957 period. Now that Pluto is completing a 180degree cycle. For instance, it was within this period when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus and Malcom X led the civil rights movement.
Transformation is upon us y’all, we are on the precipice of experiencing life in a new way. Sending you peace and love xo
