The Astrology of Pisces in Black Liberation: Nina Simone

The Astrology of Pisces in Black Liberation: Nina Simone

Nina Simone

February 21^st 1933- April 21^st 2003

Nina Simone was a “jazz & blues”, (she doesn’t like those labels), classical music, African American folk and spiritual music, protest music singer and pianist. She’s also known for being an outspoken civil rights activist. She’s known for songs such as “I put a spell on you”, “Sinnerman,” “Mississippi Goddamn,” and “Feeling Good.” Her astrology information (via astro-charts) below:

Sun in 2 Degrees Pisces
Moon in 28 Degrees Capricorn
Mercury in 13 Degrees Pisces
Venus in 17 Degrees Aquarius
Mars in 14 Degrees Virgo (retrograde)
Jupiter in 20 Degrees Virgo (retrograde)
Saturn in 10 Degrees Aquarius
Uranus in 20 Degrees Aries
Neptune in 8 Degrees Virgo (retrograde)
Pluto in 21 Degrees Cancer (retrograde)
North Node in 8 Degrees  Pisces (retrograde)

Chiron in 23 Degrees Taurus

* Ascendant in 28 Degrees Aquarius *

Themes in her Astrology chart

- Bastard Pisces stellium (Sun, Mercury, North Node in Pisces)

- Virgo stellium (Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune in Virgo all retrograde)

- Oppositions between Pisces and Virgo

- Bastard Grand Earth trine Virgo stellium, Moon in Capricorn, and Chiron in Taurus

- Bastard stellium in Aquarius (Ascendant, Venus, and Saturn in Aquarius)

Overall: Sensitive, vulnerable Pisces that’s more earthy/grounded and restricted via oppositions and Saturn/Capricorn/Aquarius energy.

Pisces bastard stellium and conjunction (Sun, Mercury, North Node in Pisces)

Nina Simone has a Pisces bastard stellium with Sun, Mercury, and North Node in Pisces. This means her ego/personality (Sun), thinking/communication skills (Mercury), and life’s purpose/destiny (North Node) are in alignment and working together. Nina is a pianist, musician (singer/songwriter), and activists. She’s the embodiment of following her passions and interests.

Her Pisces stellium is sextile her Moon in Capricorn and Chiron in Taurus, so her emotions and wounded healer supports her Pisces energy and work together to support her goals. Her Moon in Capricorn and Chiron in Taurus ground her Pisces energy. While her Pisces energy loosens and frees her earth energy.

Nina’s Pisces energy and stellium is one of mystical, spiritual, and emotional fluidity. I feel she was channeling when she was singing and playing her music. She loved, she needed and wanted to love. Her existence was all for love.

Moon in 28 Degrees Capricorn

Nina Simone with her Moon in Capricorn is emotionally disciplined, ambitious, and conservative. How can one be ambitious with their emotions? Well Capricorn can, by diverting energy used to feelings and expressing emotions and channeling it to their goals, work, and more practical endeavors. Earth and air moons do this well. This is especially the case when astrology wise her Virgo stellium is bastardly trine to her Moon in Capricorn. So her emotions/feelings/habits (moon), desires/ (Mars), opportunities, higher self (Jupiter), and higher love, delusions, (Neptune) all retrograde in Virgo, is working together and supporting each other. Especially moon trining Jupiter gives her boost emotionally, allowing her to feel optimistic, productive, and feel her way through her darkest moments.

Moon in Capricorn feels (all moon signs feel) it’s just that they don’t like it, and it’s not as natural for them to express it and show it.

Moon in Capricorn is detriment in astrology and considered (the worst) place for the moon to be. I don’t believe that BUT it is a hard placement. It freezes, it hardens. Due to Capricorn being ruled by Saturn, experiences the hardness of life. Whether it’s poverty, homelessness, parental neglect, depression/mental illness, various kinds of abuse, or societal issues (racism, sexism, xenophobia). 

No matter the placement Capricorn but especially Saturn influenced placements can show hardships, delays, and having to learn lessons the hard way. A good side to this through these hard lessons (and your willingness to learn from them) you develop wisdom, strength, courage and a fearlessness that is not grounded in ignorance but experience. You come out better and more refined (like a diamond pressurized out of coal).

Nina Simone is said to have mental illness (bipolar disorder). She experienced racism which caused her to alter her course of life, particularly her dreams/career. She wanted to a classical pianist but due to racism she switched over to making popular music (first as a way to earn money for her pianist career goals). Then as a way to express her creativity. She had a lot of hardships, some lifelong but she did the best with what she had. People look up to her, because she lived her truth, she was who she was and she got comfortable in it (even though it was hard/difficult).

Her Moon is also square Uranus in Aries unpredictable, volatile, temperamental, sometimes inappropriate emotions, and emotional outbursts. With Uranus in Aries (these emotions can turn violent). Nina remarked about how she almost killed a record executive who stole music royalties from her and was cheating her. She was not ashamed and the only thing she regretted was that she missed* (she fired a shot at him).

An upside with Moon square Uranus is that Nina is naturally more independent, strong minded, and more comfortable with change. Change is exciting and emotions from change is inspiring.

Venus in 17 Degrees Aquarius

Nina had Venus conjunct Saturn in Aquarius with Uranus in Aries sextiling both placements. Her ascendant is also in Aquarius

Nina’s Venus conjunct Saturn in Aquarius can show insecurity in terms of beauty and physical/sexual attractiveness and a highly. I see Nina as someone who could be original, insecure, highly rebellious, unpredictable, and autonomous.

I also see Nina Simone as unconventional but traditional in relationships. It sounds like a contradiction but it isn’t. She was the breadwinner in her relationships. A woman being a breadwinner during her time was seen as unconventional and unusual. However the men tried to control her, use her, and made her choose between the music/career and the relationship. She did not allow this to happen and she fought back. The men were competing with her and using her. Her lifestyle/career/personality was unconventional (especially during her times) but her views on relationship loyalty, trust, companionship, and protection are more traditional viewpoints.

Nina had 2 failed marriages (or successful depending on your perspective). She believed in the institution of marriage even though it evaded her. In an interview she remarked she loves marriage but couldn’t make it work.

Virgo stellium (Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune in Virgo all retrograde)

Nina had a Virgo stellium with Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune in Virgo all retrograde

Nina was an exceptional, genius pianist and child prodigy. Being exceptional at something requires technical skills, dedication, and long hours practicing techniques. This side of her artistry is part Pisces energy but also her Virgo energy mostly. Nina was probably hard on herself, a perfectionist. Especially with her Mars conjunct Jupiter are both retrograde problems with boundaries and overextending herself.

A big part of her Virgo energy is her stellium is in retrograde. Retrograde is internalized energy. When internalized it can be repressed/suppressed or it can go another way. This way being that this internalized energy has led to someone that is reflective, inspired, and focused. Not much opportunities for distraction. Usually it’s a mixture of both.

Nina had an opposition between Pisces and Virgo. So her personality/ego (Sun), (thinking/communicating processes) (Mercury), and destiny/life purpose (North Node) was in opposition with action/desire/stamina/energy (Mars), expansion, higher knowledge, beliefs (Jupiter), and higher love (Neptune) in Virgo all retrograde.

Pisces and Virgo are opposition signs that go after similar things in oppose ways. Virgo goes after things by being organize, doing research, putting in effort, and being logical, while Pisces goes after things by tapping into their intuition and self-belief, by allowing the universe, law of attraction, and other spiritual “irrational” forces bring what they what they want. Pisces and Virgo meets in the fact that they are both service oriented. Nina was an entertainer, she put her efforts, creative talents into her craft. As an entertainer and performer she wants to service and satisfy her audience and give them what they paid for. Her Pisces and Virgo energy comes together to make sure she puts on a great show and she is beholden to her audience and supporters/fans.

Nina Simone is part of the Pluto in Cancer generation (astrologically from 1914-1939. Random but I truly respect the Pluto in Cancer generation. In normal world the Pluto in Cancer generation are known as the Silent Generation [born in the years 1925-1945]. Pluto in Cancer generation is known as being very protective, humbled, patriotic, loyalty, enterprising, and self-less. The downside is very traditional (patriarchal/matriarchal/sexist/racist possibly), can be close minded, and greedy/materialistic (partly due to sense of security being threaten because of the Great Depression and WWII). A lot of civil rights leaders were part of the Pluto in Cancer generation.

Nina Simone is no exception. She has Moon in Capricorn oppose her Pluto in Cancer. So she wrestles with financial/mental security and emotional security. A way I think she resolved this was being intensely ambitious and fiercely creative. Her Pluto in also trine her Pisces stellium so she has very protective/nurturing, unselfish energy especially in her art/music. 

She spoke out (look at her song Mississippi Goddamn or her cover of Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit) for her people. Specifically Mississippi Goddamn was written for murdered Cancer sun activist and friend, Medgar Evers and for the four little girls that were murdered in a white supremacist church bombing terrorist attack. She wore an Afro, her hair natural which at the time was very political at the time. She was influential because she knew this was her power and this is what she had to do. Here are some quotes from her below:

“An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times. That to me is my duty,” Simone said in an interview with Black Journal. “And at this crucial time in our lives when everything is so desperate, when every day is a matter of survival, I don’t think you can help but be involved.

“Young people, Black and white, know this. That’s why they’re so involved in politics. We will shape and mold this country, I will not be molded and shaped at all anymore.”

Watch her BBC HARDtalk, 1999 and her 1988 The Wire interview on YouTube to get a feel for her energy

Nina Simone’s Pisces in the Astrology of Black Liberation is first her willingness (and sometimes regret) to be the artist, be the protest singer, and to be a voice to the Civil Rights movement at the time. She made herself a target (like many other activists).

When doing my research on Nina Simone is very complex nuanced person and artist. She performed “blues” songs but hated the Blues genre (and being compared to Billie Holiday).  She regretted pursuing a career in show business but loved her music/songs. She was abused by her husband, she abused/abandoned her daughter at various points in her daughter’s life. It’s important to note that this partially due to her mental illness and the intensity of it BUT she also has to be held accountable for the trauma she inflicted on her daughter. This is not an indictment on her or me disrespecting her legacy just shows the intricacies of her character especially as a mutable sign Pisces.

Nina Simone, to be a Pisces, a Pisces in the Astrology of Black Liberation, to be real, to be imperfect, be hypocritical, to be maddening, upsetting, to be wise, and naïve, to be what the world needed, to be what she loved (and despised/hated at times), to be the hero and villain, and the victim and victor. This is the Pisces energy in the Astrology of Black Liberation.