Goodbye, Robin Williams

By Elizabeth Michaud

Robin Williams died Monday in his California home at the age of 63. His death has been confirmed to be a suicide.

It’s important to recognize that no astrology can explain or predict suicide. And many people will have similar natal placements or transits as someone who takes their own life, without ever considered doing that themselves. It is however worth looking at the astrology to discern what can be learned, in the spirit of understanding the human condition and understanding emotional pain before it manifests in an extreme way.

Astrology interpretation is always an opinion. With that in mind, let’s take a look at his charts.

Williams’ natal chart (viewable here, along with the chart for his death) is evocative of a boundless intensity, one that at times consumed his ability to cope. The volatile yet passionate conjunction of Mars and Uranus in Cancer was a driving force for his creativity, but also spoke of an internalized struggle to find security. Williams had battled alcohol and drug addiction, and also had been diagnosed with depression (and possibly bipolar disorder). His rapid-fire and erratic humor masked a world of sorrow below.

The water element permeating his chart indicates his fluid and intuitive nature. But a real key into his reach is Chiron at the same degree as the Galactic Core, the center of our Milky Way galaxy that functions as a “cosmic homing signal.”

That conjunction, in combination with some other placements, connected Williams with what Eric has described as a “life-or-death struggle with faith” — something driving him at the soul level. He was in touch with another world, and seems to have had difficulty reconciling it with the confines of this one. It may be that embodying that schism and bringing it to the public through his performances was the core of his purpose in being here. Williams’ personal vulnerability touched a chord in audiences worldwide, as viewers couldn’t help but open up to his awkward and hyper wit, a thin veneer over the depth of sensitivity he grappled with.

Born July 21, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, Williams grew up in Michigan with his mother, a former model, and father, a senior executive at Ford Motor Company. He attended a private all-boys high school until the family moved to Marin County, California in the late 1960s.

In a 2006 interview with Terri Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air, Williams described himself as a very quiet and shy child, only coming out of this shell during his senior-year involvement in his high school’s drama department. His versatile genius for improvisation, dialects and physical comedy led to his acceptance into the venerated Juilliard School in 1973, one of only two students (the other being Christopher Reeve) to be accepted into the Advanced Program in his freshmen year.

After some short-lived stints in TV, Williams was cast as the space alien Mork in a dream-sequence episode of the hit TV series Happy Days, which led to a spin-off of its own, the iconic Mork & Mindy, which ran from 1978 to 1982. His dynamic stand-up comedy acts also began in the late ‘70s, but spanned the entire length of his career.

And of course he is known for his countless stellar roles in movies ranging from Good Morning Vietnam (1987) and Dead Poets Society (1989), to playing the Genie in Disney’s animated Aladdin (1992). In 1997, Good Will Hunting earned him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Williams’ tireless creative spark enabled him to seamlessly slip from one zany character to the next, often from one moment to the next.

Born with the Sun in Cancer, Moon in Pisces, and Scorpio ruling his ascendant, Williams’ astrology shows an emotional and private side that the public rarely saw under his often-manic sense of humor.

Mercury and Pluto sit at the very top of his chart in dramatic Leo, in his 10th house of aspirations, goals and one’s place in the world or life calling — meaning that the extroverted role he played was charged with a soul-driven need to communicate and perform. The prominence of Mercury, the Trickster of the zodiac, points to Williams’ incredible ability to assume accents and imitate voices — yet with a poignant depth underlying his brilliance.

Len Wallick has noted that, “Mars-Uranus in the 9th house correlates with his rapid advancement, and goes hand-in-hand with edgy Mercury-Pluto in the 10th helping him to stand out from the crowd.”

The intensity of Williams’ need is partly represented by the Mars-Uranus conjunction, with its conflicting themes of security and release in his 9th house of intellectual arts, ideas, spirituality and the ‘higher self’. It’s also a perfect illustration for Williams’ comedy: sudden creative sparks (Uranus) finding instant action (Mars) in an element and sign that’s all about flow, cycles and changing moods.

In that same 2006 NPR interview, Williams remarked, “As an actor you get to explore all sorts of behavior, some of it aberrant, and some of it normal, and some of it, you know…quite unusual. And it helps to be aware of that and to observe that, and to bring as much detail as possible.”

Williams’ eccentric and loveable presence will be missed. His wife, Susan Schneider, said it best with these words: “As he is remembered, it is our hope the focus will not be on Robin’s death, but on the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions.”