Moon in Scorpio: I am Legend

I am Legend is a 1954 novel concerning the fictitious life of Robert Neville, the last surviving human in the city of Los Angeles, it was written by Richard Matheson who also wrote a number of episodes for The Twilight Zone and it has been made into a movie on three occasions, most recently starring Will Smith. It is ostensibly a science-fiction novel of the post-apocalypse sub-genre, more pertinently however, it is an out and out vampire flick. I read the book as a young man, and have watched the 1971 adaptation: “The Omega Man” starring Charlton Heston, and more recently the newer, glossier and somewhat unsatisfying: “I am Legend” which features Will Smith in the leading role.

Small coincidence.

Here is a movie about the last surviving human in an entire landscape of fear. His home is a fortress, his habits are paranoid, and the themes of his life are about nothing other than outright survival, for Robert Neville, every day is life-or-death day; there are no vacations, light moments or romantic, candlelit interludes. Each time he leaves the security of his four walls, he is taking his life in his hands, he learns – unequivocally – that the world is dangerous, dark and populated with ravaging demons who will rip out his throat without a moment’s pause; life is a trial, each and every day, of the most exacting and serious kind.

And like I said up there, small coincidence, that Will Smith was attracted to the role. The fictional life of Robert Neville is a near perfect facsimile for peregrine Moon in Scorpio and of course, Will Smith has peregrine Moon in Scorpio. I discuss this theme with fair regularity (aka Nick Drake Syndrome), but at least Will Smith, and more particularly, the character of Robert Neville creates a standalone out of this aspect (which describes the experiential focus of peregrination to a t). Wherever the Moon is found either in Scorpio or very closely (and especially solely) aspected to Pluto, it creates this same ambience (let us redefine it “Robert Neville Syndrome”), because our inner sense of security, of the ambient safeness of the world is skewed; where we should be able to trust that when we go out into the light we will be safe, Moon in Scorpio, or shackled to Pluto alone, will queer the pitch; and peregrinated, it will become overwhelmingly emphasised, the sense of disconnection, of insecurity, of imminent destruction will become, not just a nagging doubt, but a screaming certainty.

It is important to understand this, Moon peregrinated is always dissociative; watch any interview with Will Smith or Tom Cruise and you can palpably sense their struggle to feel involved, to make their experience real (and they fail), I find the Tom Cruise disconnect to be much more uncomfortable however, Will Smith has the benefit of some very well-favoured supporting conditions thus:

We can ignore the houses since birth time is unknown, however, Moon in Scorpio and peregrine is somewhat compensated for by an incredibly potent and partile stellium of Mercury, Venus and Pallas in Libra, and it is therefore no coincidence that a delightful, charming, gently harmonious quality to the speech and manner of self-expression is the balancing factor which offsets his Moon placement (and Pallas creates a point of astonishing competence). You can still feel the power of Scorpio Moon of course; his expression is emotionally incisive, and he has an edge to his manner that is fundamentally Hadean. So much drive and tension in this astrology (and yet no squares! All his struggles are projected!)! The opposition to Saturn in Aries too from the Libra grouping creates a go-it-alone mentality and a tendency to develop some serious self-reliance (which may at least be some kind of antidote to the ongoing struggle to survive, especially if the native can get past 35!) and look too at the conjunct of Jupiter and Pluto; here is someone who just knows how to get people in his way of thinking, whether they want to or not. All the easy aspects are to Neptune, so the dream of acting is one of the few things that he doesn’t have to work really hard at either.

And as with anyone of this generation, with Chiron opposing both Pluto and Uranus, which trine to Neptune, the best of life is to be found in the latter half, when those outer planet energies finally become meaningful; Will Smith has traded on his Libra stellium, his Saturnine survivalism and his desperate search for security, but an end to all that is in sight, providing he – like this entire generation – can find a way to personalise Neptune and start trading in compassion and sensitivity. If he does manage it, then his best performances are yet to come.

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