Amy Winehouse: Shooting Star

It’s been two weeks since Amy Winehouse was found dead in her North London home. Somehow, it seems much longer than that, doesn’t it?

An official cause of death has yet to be announced and speculation ranges from drug overdose to alcohol withdrawal. One thing is certain. No one was surprised when Amy joined the infamous 27 Club. 

It's sad that no one was surprised. It's even sadder that the whole world was watching this talented young woman’s steady decline into addiction – and no one could do anything to stop it. Such is the power of addiction.

Most astrologers I’ve read jumped right on the “Death Chart” scenario. I wanted to go back and see what was happening in her chart as her life and career progressed.

Amy was born on September 23, 1983 in Enfield, England. A reliable source with Mountain Astrologer magazine places her time of birth at 10:25 pm BST. That gave Amy a Gemini rising sign, which fits with descriptions of her personality: clever, intelligent, witty and funny vs. abusive, violent, and addicted with poor impulse control.  

Her natal chart is a stunning cluster array of every planetary body spread across just four of the 12 houses: the 4^th house through the 7^th house.

Most of the heavyweights were in her 6^th house of work: Pluto (destroyer & reformer), Saturn (the taskmaster with the urge for security & safety), Jupiter (good fortune and expansion), and Uranus (genius, freedom, bohemian). 

There is one exception in that 4^th through 7^th house cluster: Chiron, the wounded healer who was unable to heal himself, sits in her 12^th house of karma and the subconscious in perfect opposition to her 6^th house Jupiter and Uranus.

Amy was born with enough on her plate and in her chart to deal with in a lifetime.

Amy received her first guitar when she was 13 and within a year she was writing her own music. At the age of 19, she signed with an agent who literally kept her an industry secret. They knew they had a talent for the ages on their hands. Sebastian Danchin, author of Encyclopedia of Rhythm & Blues and Soul quoted other artists (including John Legend) that  "Amy Winehouse was produced by people who wanted to create a marketing coup.”

In March 2003, Neptune made its entrance into Amy’s 10^th house of career. Neptune is the planet of spiritual and escapist urges. Neptune rules music, glamour, dreams, illusion, delusion, mystique, fog, drugs, drug addiction, alcoholism, sleep-walking, trances, hypochondria, and abnormality. Neptune will lead you to deceive yourself. It will make you want to seek the ideal. Neptune will fill you with a solar system of self-doubt.

Neptune’s action over the next few months would retrograde back into her 9^th house, then into her 10^th, crossing over her 10^th house cusp, just grating away at her self-confidence.

Work moved forward on launching the “Winehouse Phenomenon.” Her first release, Frank, was released on October 20, 2003. On that day, Neptune was back in her 9^th house giving her some reprieve. However, it was still close enough to her midheaven to affect her public life as well as how she was dealing with authority figures in her life. It would be influencing her to identify with illusion, impairing her judgment and causing her to suffer a loss of faith in herself.

Uranus was at the top of her chart, smack dab in the middle of her 10^th house. Uranus is the planet of originality, electricity, magic, and sudden change. It is the bolt out of the blue. Uranus was trining Amy’s natal Pluto, which represented significant life changes - difficult and inevitable changes where she would confront parts of her self she would rather not face.  Texts about this aspect state that “these events unfold over time. Running away from the battle will not help you for eventually you must admit the dark unknown and integrate it with your conscious self if you are to move towards wholeness and peace of mind.”

Saturn, the great teacher of lessons, was halfway through her 2^nd house of values and how she earned her money. This transit also indicated she would have dealt with doubts regarding her self-worth.

Jupiter, the planet of expansion, had just crossed into her 5^th house of creativity, giving her the opportunity to display her abilities.

Chiron was transiting her 8^th house signifying that old wounds were surfacing and she would have been experiencing challenges in intimate relationships, possibly with some sexual dysfunction.

Nonetheless, the match had been lit and the Amy Winehouse rocket was blasting off.

Amy had written all but two songs on her freshman release. Frank earned triple platinum sales and rave reviews brought comparisons of her voice to Sarah Vaughn's and Macy Gray's. Billboard called the album “stellar.” Amy won the Ivor Novello Award. 

Heady stuff for a 19-year old.

Amy, however, said that she was “only 80% behind (the) album” because of the inclusion by her record label of certain songs and mixes she disliked. This confirms that Amy was rebelling against the authority figures in her life.  

On May 18, 2007 Amy  married Blake Fielder Civil, a former video production assistant. Civil is widely believed to be the person who introduced Amy to heroin and crack cocaine. At the time, Pluto was transiting her 7th house of marriage and partnerships, in a sextile aspect with her natal Pluto. This transit transformed her urge for self-renewal and regeneration.

Transiting Chiron, the wounded healer, in her 10th house of career was in touch with a trine to her Ascendant. This transit portends a healing presence coming into her life. However, Civil is widely regarded as the man who introduced Amy to heroin & cocaine. Neptune still in her 10th house was just 7 degrees away from transiting Chiron.


January 24, 2008 Amy checked herself into rehab. Amy's chart for this day shows a snapshot of her natal chart's leading planet, Mars, transiting her 1st house of self. This would have been giving her a strong will and she was truly focused on herself. This transiting Mars was opposing her natal Neptune, giving her new spiritual insights but also a sense of confusion. However, with Neptune plaguing her career, Amy had to have had trouble sorting through what was real and what was illusion. She was imagining goals for herself that might not have been realistic and could never come to fruition.

Transiting Saturn was squaring her natal Uranus, urging her to break away from the forces that were shaping her life. It is also interesting to note that the transiting Moon was squaring her natal Chiron. Her feelings would have been related to the symoblism of suffering, transformation and healing. She would have felt healing energy coming into her life. The Moon was also squaring her natal Jupiter giving her positive feelings and beneficial contacts with people. Transiting Sun was in a strong trine to her natal Chiron, making her conscious of an energy of personal transformation.

Amy's demons seem to be caged. On February 10, 2008 she wins five Grammys including Best Pop Vocal Album for Back to Black, Best New Artist, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for Rehab.
Her mother states that Amy was "on the road to recovery." At that time, Mercury and the Sun joined Chiron and Neptune at the top of her chart in her career house. Transiting Pluto was in a strong sextile aspect to her natal Saturn, indicating that she was feeling the push for a more vibrant way of being in the world and in the process of letting go of some part of her past. She was trying to create something new in place of the old.

By June 2010, Amy has divorced Blake Fielder Civil, has a fashion line ready to launch that is featured in Harper's Bazaar, and is dating a new man, British film director Reg Traviss. While drugs may seem to be out of her life, she continues to struggle with alcohol but she continues to seek help by checking herself back into rehab several times. At the time the photo at left was taken, Amy chart showed that she was, for the most part, in a better place. The twin demons of Chiron and Neptune are still transiting her 10th house and are now just 2 degrees apart.

On June 18, 2011, Amy gives a disastrous performance in Belgrade. She was late for the performance, forgot her lyrics, and wandered around the stage aimlessly. The crowd booed her. She cancels the rest of her 12-date European tour. Her old demon, transiting Neptune, is now in a strong square with her natal Chiron. It was a stressful time for her. She was working hard to dissolve old structures. She was experiencing the tension what she was trying to break away from and what she was trying to create in her life.

At the July 1, 2011 eclipse, planetary aspects were once again challenging Amy. This was the elipse that formed a cardinal grand cross with Saturn, Neptune and Pluto. The eclipse took place in Amy's 2nd house of values and self-worth. Saturn was transiting her 5th house of love affairs and creativity. Neptune, of course, is still sitting in her 10th house of career.

Pluto, the planet of death and transformation, had just crossed the cusp of Amy's 8th house - the house of  death and rebirth, sexuality and transformation.

Saturn transiting the 5th house would have Amy working to discover her true self and learning to love the person she found in the process.

Neptune transiting the 10th house indicates a period of confusion and a greater spiritual awareness concerning career and public persona, or self-expression in the world. She tended to give more than she received and found herself susceptible to suggestion. She also tried to avoid responsibility. One text states "you may branch out into a musical career."

Pluto transiting the 8th house would have Amy learning what she truly needed from close relationships in her life as opposed to what she thought she needed from them.