Ozzy Osbourne

Hail the Prince of Darkness!!

The heavy metal world was saddened by the loss of Ozzy Osbourne last month. Whether you liked Black Sabbath or his solo career is irrelevant, as he was one of the godfathers of the genre. Lemmy Kilmister, the singer and bassist of the band Motörhead, was the other one. The two of them drove heavy metal, inspiring thousands, who list them as major influences.

Ozzy was born John Michael Osbourne. He is said to have suffered from dyslexia and ADHD at an early age, making school difficult for him. He dropped out at 15 and worked various jobs until he was arrested for burglary and spent 6 weeks in jail. His father didn’t want to bail him out in order to teach him a lesson.

After his jail stint, he decided he wanted to be a singer and eventually connected with the other members of Black Sabbath. The themes of the band’s songs were occult and horror. The name was taken from a 1963 Boris Karloff film by the same title. Despite the title of the song being related to a Satanic mass, the band originally also sang Christian songs. Here are the opening lyrics to After Forever from their Masters of Reality album:

Have you ever thought about your soul? Can it be saved?

Or perhaps you think that when you’re dead, you just stay in your grave

Is God just a thought within your head, or is He a part of you?

Is Christ just a name that you read in a book when you were in school?

As you can see, there is a spiritual bent to his lyrics. The Prince of Darkness moniker came later when the whole metal scene drifted towards “Satanic” themes.

Ozzy was born on Friday 3 December 1948. The time is supposedly unknown, and the website Astrodienst shows a rectified time of 10:00. Using Alphee Lavoie’s Millenium Star Trax, I inputted the following life events for Osbourne:

1. Death
2. Recording Black Sabbath (1^st Album)
3. Father’s death
4. Last show with Black Sabbath
5. First Solo show
6. Randy Rhodes death
7. The Osbournes’ premier
8. Sharon’s Cancer
9. House robbed
10. Parkinson’s diagnosis
11. Marries Sharon.

There are a couple of times that work for these events, 09:25 or 11:26. I believe the 11:26 time works best.

CHART ANALYSIS

This chart gives him the unpredictable and chaotic sign of Aquarius as his rising sign. It is ruled traditionally by Saturn, situated in Virgo, intercepted in the Seventh house of partnerships and by modern Uranus at the critical 29th degree of Gemini in the Fifth house of self-expression and over-indulgence. He also has an intercepted Pisces, the sign of the addict in the first house, ruled by Jupiter in the exuberant Jupiter in Capricorn in the 11th house and modern ruler Neptune in Libra in the 8th of taboos.

The combination of the eccentric Aquarius and the wild, spontaneous Sagittarius is a good explanation of why he would bite the head off a bat, albeit he did think it was a rubber bat. But who would bring a real, dead bat to a concert anyway? Biting the head off a live dove is another story, but again, the dove was dead, and the event was staged for the effect. However, the vehicle accidents were totally drug-induced.

While the 10:00 time gave him the dark and menacing Scorpio as a Midheaven, this chart gives him the bombastic and spiritual Sagittarius. This chart has Jupiter conjunct the traditional ruler of Scorpio, giving him that dark edge. Mercury, the voice, is conjunct the Midheaven, which is apropos as he is a singer of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne (solo band).

This chart puts the Sun in the 10th house, making him the persona of the career path he took. He knew from a young age he wanted to be a singer. The singer of the band is typically the frontman, who takes the glory. According to Rex Bill’s Rulership book, princes are ruled by the Sun, Sagittarius and the Tenth house. That is three for three for the Prince of Darkness.

This chart also gives him Neptune in the Eighth of taboos and underworldly things, squaring the Moon in the Twelfth, which can be interpreted as getting his needs met through addictions. The twelfth is the house of institutions and the house of self-undoing. The eighth is also the house of the occult, and with Neptune there, it suggests his music will deal with occult subjects. Just look at the Black Sabbath catalogue, and even in his solo career, where one of his songs is called Mr. Crowley, a nod to occultist Aleister Crowley.

TRANSITS

Another reason this chart works so well is the transit of when his guitarist Randy Rhodes died in a plane accident, and the connection to Ozzy’s chart. Transiting Uranus, the planet of surprises or accidents, was conjunct the Midheaven, and Mars, also associated with violent accidents, was conjunct Neptune, which rules music, meaning Ozzy lost his principal collaborator.

Also, when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, the previous Solar Eclipse was opposite his Ascendant by converse transit and conjunct his Moon by transit.

When he married Sharon, the Solar Arc Descendant (relationships) was conjunct the Vertex, which relates to relationships. The Vertex is based on the time of birth, and the Solar Arc South Node was conjunct his pre-natal New Moon.

When he had his last show with Black Sabbath in 1978, he had the transiting South Node conjunct the Midheaven, meaning his druggy past was enough for the band to ask him to leave. Transiting Jupiter, his career, was squaring his pre-natal Eclipse, suggesting this was a significant shift in his career and life.

These are just a few of the events in Osbourne’s life that show how the time I selected for his birth chart lines up, including his death. His death has Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the South Node but squaring the Ascendant. There could be a few more possibilities, but for me, this one works well.

I have to thank him for being a part of my youth and some of the music I love.  Thanks Ozzy, and rock on in the afterlife.