One For The Road: The Horoscope of Frank Sinatra

Long before the Baby Boomers rocked society to its foundations with its pagan worship of raucous musicians, an underweight matinee idol from the Garden State of New Jersey wreaked similar havoc with his singular possession of  The Voice.  This Voice sent female teenagers shrieking in an unprecedented manner that often bordered on hysteria, it sold out theaters from Boston  to Los Angeles and was the star of the Hit Parade. This twentieth century Orpheus with his gifted vocal chords left a hypnotic sound in his wake that left an indelible impression on all who heard it. It invited anyone who would lend an ear to “Come Fly With Me” and, after hearing The  Voice, they began to sprout wings. It gave hope to a generation returning from war, a hope that is still heard when you listen to the kitchen radio of anyone over the age of 65. It was a mysterious, sometimes dangerous power that could take root in your soul and envelope your whole being. It held an entire generation in the palm of its hand, and even those iconoclastic Baby Boomers were forced to turn their heads on occasion.  How could they not, when they turned on their parent’s television set The Voice was often seen with his magic wand/microphone in his hand or starring in a movie. The Voice was heard and seen everywhere. It gave popular music a  first and last name and those names were none other than Frank Sinatra, Chairman of the Board.

Biographies of Sinatra abound, and almost everyone can tell a story or two on his shenanigans  from their travels through life.  But we as astrologers know where the stories really begin, and that’s why we’re going to take a in-depth look at his chart.

Francis Albert Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915 at 3:00 AM in Hoboken New Jersey.  (Reference: Lois Rodden.  Source: Father’s memory).

The Sun in Sagittarius in the second house gives an ability to make money and spread it around. Frank enjoyed millionaire status in his early thirties and spent, gambled and invested is way through life in the style of the show business potentate that he was.   Moon in Pisces on the cusp of the fifth  gives a strong artistic sense and a need for privacy.  It can also give a need to entertain (5th house) through impression (Pisces).  Sinatra’s ability in this department was no less than legendary.    The sign your Moon is in is how you feel emotionally secure.  The house the Moon is in is where you feel emotionally secure.  Thus Frank was in his element  on a stage, on the set or in the recording studio.  He simply took command and held it as his birthright.   A Sagittarius Sun with Moon in Pisces gave Frank a double dose of Jupiter as Jupiter co-rules Pisces. Since Jupiter is also in Pisces, this gives  Jupiter a triple whammy in Sinatra’s chart.  Jupiter rules freedom of thought, expansion, the Truth delivered by slings and arrows and foreign travel, to name just a few.  In short, Jupiter has no concept of staying within boundaries, and neither did Sinatra. Keep in mind that Jupiter was the Roman counterpart of  the Greek Zeus, the  supreme ruler of Olympus, whose power was greater than all other divinities put together. The Chairman of the Board of gods, if you will.   Zeus fell in love with goddesses and mortals alike, disguising himself as swans, stars and showers of gold. He was forever sneaking around and would go to no end to hide his infidelities from his jealous wife, Hera. See the pattern? Fits like a glove, doesn’t it?  Throw in Mercury in Sagittarius and those verbal slings and arrows hit the bull’s-eye every time.

Mars, co-ruler of the second house of personal income, is conjunct the royal fixed star Regulus in the tenth house.  A royal star as the ruler of your talents and personal resources would definitely ensure  a bank account with never-ending zeros.

Libra rising gives Venus as Sinatra’s ruling planet. Venus is in Capricorn in the third house of siblings, communication, and your local neighborhood.  Try as he might, Sinatra could never shake his Italian, blue-collar roots in Hoboken.  The third house is also co-ruled by Saturn and here Venus and Saturn are in opposition.  Wherever the planet Saturn is placed in the chart, or the house that Capricorn rules, is where you’ll have your most trials and tribulations followed by reward and achievement, but only if you work on these issues.  Frank was denied brothers and sisters in his youth; his mother’s experience with his birth left her unable to have more children.  He was also a poor student, (third house), never getting past his freshman year in high school. His father (Saturn), a immigrant from Sicily, was completely illiterate, and education was not a priority in the Sinatra household.   Sinatra made up for his lack of education later on in life (Saturn again), by becoming an avid reader. On a lighter note, Venus in the third gave Sinatra the ability of  phrasing of his singing in a style that was all his own, often copied but never duplicated.  Lest we forget, the third house also rules the press,  Sinatra’s all-time nemesis.  Venus also rules the twelfth house and suffice it to say that, with Venus opposing Saturn, Sinatra had issues with privacy.  He was not above decking reporters and paparazzi in his salad days and  as he grew older, he kept an entourage of bodyguards specifically for that purpose when the press got too close for comfort. Yet  even the Chairman of the Board himself could not stop author Kitty Kelly from publishing her gossip-ridden unauthorized biography, His Way, the number one bestseller.

Aquarius, co-ruled by Uranus and Saturn,  rules Sinatra’s fourth house of family roots, domesticity and conditions in one’s later years.    Uranus is in dignity in the fourth conjunct the North Node of destiny.  Such a well placed planet describes excellent conditions in fourth house matters, and this case is no exception.  Sinatra’a father was an amateur boxer and  passed down the love of this sport to his son.  Sinatra always held his father in the highest regard and he lived out his later years in the grand style.  He helped those in need in the most Aquarian style, donating millions of dollars to needy charities every year, often anonymously.

Probably the most significant  astrological factor that contributed to his natural ability to entertain was Jupiter, co-ruler of his fifth house, in dignity in the fifth house. The planet, sign and house are highlighted by this placement in dignity and it was hard to argue that Sinatra was truly gifted.  Such a placement gives a profound artistic sense bordering on creative genius.  With the aforementioned Moon being conjunct the cusp of the fifth, the Moon  could also be a co-ruler of the fifth house.  What better placement of the Moon than in Pisces to create moods for creative expression? The Voice was a portal to another world, where the Summer Wind really was blowing.  His trademark posture of slouched hat and coat slung over his shoulder beckoned his audience to emulate his insouciance, and emulate they did. After all,  imitation is the highest form of flattery.  Having conquered music and acting, Sinatra explored painting in his later years.

The fifth house also rules speculation and gambling and, after appearing at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, (a hotel he helped finance), Sinatra’s  usual routine was to head straight  to the casino, parting the Red Sea as he went. The sound of the spinning roulette wheel and the calculating call of the croupiers beckoned Old Blue Eyes like a moth to flame.  If the ruler of the fifth house in dignity in the fifth house produces a dyed-in-the-wool artist, it likewise produces a die-hard gambler.  Notice that the Sun in the second squares Jupiter in the fifth, an aspect that only exaggerated Sinatra’s lifelong habit of throwing money around, as well as pulling it in.

The sixth house rules one’s work ethic, daily routine, habits and attitudes towards hygiene  and diet.  Mars rules Sinatra’s sixth and, with Mars so prominently placed in the Midheaven and conjunct THE royal star, Regulus, Sinatra commanded the treatment of a dignitary.    Above all, the sixth house rules service and, even though he had his own definition  of giving it,  Sinatra demanded it everywhere he went.  Room Service was his watchword and any hotel in which he stayed had to cater to his every whim and the whims of all of his guests.  He once ordered over one hundred martinis to be sent up to his room and, after they arrived on carts, promptly left them all in a corner of the hallway, as the guests of his party had all changed their minds.  Woe betide the hotel employee who informed Zeus that his request could not be granted.  Out came the thunderbolts and, occasionally, the employee was fired at Sinatra’s insistence.  In-between wives he employed a personal valet to attend to his wardrobe, greet guests, prepare his food and, in general, be his personal servant.   In the studio, on the stage or on the set, the cameras rolled and the work began when HE SAID it would begin. Once after The Voice spoke, his demanding work ethic was demonstrated in no uncertain terms, and he demanded perfection in every area of his work.   He was a gifted artist and he knew it.  He then made sure everyone else knew it, too.  One does not question or argue with royalty.  Needless to say, this imperialistic attitude towards “work” did not win him any popularity contests, and not all who confronted him backed down after the thunderbolts landed.  Fist fights often ensued, usually  followed by lawsuits.   For all his celebrity status, Sinatra was not a king, and these are not medieval times.   Yet his primary tool for work, The Voice, truly did rule a kingdom, it commanded more sincere homage from more people than any royal decree ever did.

The effects of Mars and Regulus spilled over into his relationships.  Mars also rules the seventh house of relationships so it was only right and fitting that Sinatra court queens, which he invariably did.  Notice that the only Ptolemaic aspect that Mars makes is a sextile to the Ascendant, ruler of your beginnings in the world and your overall perceptions. If your beginnings and perceptions are granted an opportunity (sextile) for royal  treatment, you would most likely receive said treatment at an early age.  As previously mentioned, Sinatra was an only child and thus was the focal point of his parents’ attention.  His mother (Mars in the tenth house) particularly doted on her only son by catering to his every whim.  His wish was her command. Sinatra unconsciously assumed this style of man-worship onto the women he loved and here was Zeus in all his glory.  They were expected to play the role of lovers on hold while he cavorted among the casinos and his colleagues to his heart’s content.  His first wife, Nancy, the mother of his three children, played this role quite willingly….for a while.  His flagrant philandering became to much to bear, so she granted him a divorce to set him free to marry  the love of his life, Ava Gardner. True to form, Ava was a queen of the silver screen and, at the time of their marriage, commanded almost as much adulation as Sinatra.  Without consciously knowing it, Ava was a feminist who was way ahead of her time. She had no intention of playing second fiddle to anybody, least of all her husband.  Sinatra met his match in Ava.  She was phenomenally successful in her own right and maintained her own celebrity status.  When her temper flared, she was Chairwoman of the Board in  The Department of Verbal Abuse. Sinatra was awed by her, but he could not cope with the fact that he could not control her.  He was completely unaccustomed to females not serving his every need.  Lack of subservience, however, was nothing compared to the freedom-loving, wisecracking, argumentative condescending treatment he received from her.  The tantrums escalated and one night she dramatically marched out of a restaurant never to return, leaving Sinatra broken and humiliated. They loved and fought their way across two continents in a marriage that lasted a grand total of two years.   Some say he never got over her. Mars, ruling the seventh house, is conjunct Regulus,  the fixed star that does everything in a BIG way, the biggest way possible and, with Mars posited in the tenth house of  high visibility, the whole world knew about the break-up.  Ava would not play the role of  queen on hold.  His other two wives, Mia Farrow and Barbara Marx, most certainly did.

Venus rules Sinatra’s eighth house of joint finances, research, psychiatry, death, taxes, secrets and tycoonery. As previously mentioned, Venus is posited in Capricorn (longevity) and opposing Saturn (more longevity). This opposition to Saturn made Sinatra take eighth house matters seriously, which he did.  His tycoonery was a very serious business.  It required a staff of professionals to allocate donations of minimum one million dollars each  to  various charities every year, all for tax purposes.   Dubious friendships in organized crime and politics enabled him to have knowledge of many secrets.  His visits to psychiatrists assured him he was, as he so aptly phrased it, (ruler of the eighth  in the third house) “a fourteen karat manic depressive.”  No one who knew him well disputed that fact as society sharpened its definition of “difficult people of artistic temperament.”  The eighth house ruler signifies how we die. The hard aspect of Venus opposite  Saturn (longevity again) aided and abetted Sinatra to live to the ripe old age of eighty-three and pass on in a relatively painless manner.

The ninth house of long-distance travel, higher education, public relations, religion and ethics is ruled by Mercury and the Moon.  Both  ninth house rulers are in mutable signs ensuring Sinatra would open up his mind to new horizons.  Pluto in the ninth signifies how Sinatra transformed himself and others with race relations.  Growing up in the Italian section of Hoboken, his neighborhood (third house) gave him a very narrow (Saturn) window on the world.  Once he grew into adulthood, he was shocked to see prejudice rear its ugly head.  Show business in the 1940’s was segregated;  black entertainers traveled in a different bus, ate in separate dining rooms and slept in different hotels.  Sinatra would have none of this.  He personally saw to it that those rules were broken wherever he sang.  If they were broken without fanfare, fine.  If hotel management confronted him on this issue, they soon realized their mistake. Down came the thunderbolts again resulting in desk clerks flying and foyers in shambles.  Lawsuit? No problem. The ninth house also rules law and Pluto gave Sinatra nuclear power with lawyers because he had The Truth.  He made a short film about prejudice in the forties called “The House I Live In” which earned him his first Academy Award nomination. Saturn in the ninth often denies higher education; the book from which the script was written for “The House I Live In” was the first book he had ever read from cover to cover. Religion took a back seat in Sinatra’s life; he flew in the face of Catholicism in the early 1950’s when he divorced Nancy and married Ava,  a divorced woman.  Thus he was a renegade Catholic-until his mother died in a plane crash, his private plane, no less.  He then went full circle back to his Catholic roots, befriending Bishops and donating millions to Catholic charities.  Glamorous, other- worldly Neptune is also in the ninth house conjunct the Midheaven.  This ninth house placement of Neptune increases tolerance, and Sinatra certainly had his own definition of ethics; he showed the world in his own way that the best is in the worst and the worst is in the best.  Neptune on the Midheaven gave Sinatra the abililty to blend with Everyman and Everywoman in his singing, reaching the highs and lows of the human condition and expressing the melting pot of everyday life in a popular song.  Rushing over the public like the waves of Neptune’s ocean, his career embraced humanity.

The Sun rules his tenth house of career and public image and the house that Leo rules is the house in which you shine.  After all, that’s what the Sun does best.  To say that Sinatra enjoyed being in the spotlight is like saying Godzilla was a lizard that was above average size.  The Midheaven also shows how you relate to authority and what you’re striving  to emulate.  Since the Sun is the center of the universe and life on earth could not exist without its rays, it was only right and natural that Sinatra would strive to be center of attention, The Chairman of the Board.   Neptune casts an aura of mystery and glamour over his singular career and, with Neptune ruling his fifth house of showmanship conjoining the Midheaven within one degree, we’re looking at artistic expression of the highest order projected into the public eye.

Sinatra’s Part of Fortune is also in his tenth house, conjunct his South Node (what you came with) and also conjunct his prenatal solar eclipse at 17 degrees Leo.  Combine that with Mars conjunct Regulus in the tenth and we may well be looking at Zeus himself.

Mercury rules the eleventh house of his friends, social circles, and his hopes and wishes.  Sinatra’s camaraderie with the Rat Pack is legendary, as he lit up the stage with Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Dean Martin  and Joey Bishop with discriminating wit.  The house that Virgo rules shows where one will be highly selective, critical and willing to serve.  With Sinatra’s eleventh house ruler, Mercury in detriment in Sagittarius, squaring Jupiter in Pisces, his friends were loud and boisterous with a tendency to overindulge.  Yet, there was nothing Sinatra wouldn’t do for his friends; paying their hospital bills,  cooking for them, or procuring them  medical treatment.

The last stop before we come full circle, the twelfth house, is ruled by Venus.  This house shows how you unwind and spend “down time.”   With the ruler of the twelfth in the third Sinatra spent such time in his later years reading, making up for lost time in his youth.  Venus’ opposition to Saturn lends not a little profundity to the dynamics of this house.  The twelfth house also how one can do themselves in and, ironically enough,  many of Sinatra’s most famous hit songs were about self-undoing situations; broken hearts, shattered dreams and soul-wrenching disillusionment.  It was almost as though pouring his heart out to a microphone was a psychic healing process for him, and The Voice could reach into our soul memories and make us empathize with him.  Sinatra could take his public with him anywhere he wanted with The  Voice.  We in turn took him into our hearts and our collective unconscious where he left such an indelible impression.  We can take comfort in the fact that, although he left this life on May 14, 1998, he’ll always be with us; all we have to do is turn on the radio.

May The Voice be with you.

Copyright 1998 by Jackie Slevin, M.A.