National Treasures

Image: Shubhendu Mohanty

Post by Jane Lewis

What other sun-sign than Taurus would you expect David Attenborough to have?  At 98 years of age he’s just released yet another series Mammals for BBC TV.  Although his time of birth is unknown it’s reasonable to suppose that, given his fame and reputation throughout the world, he was born around midday and so I’ve cast a noon chart.  Having won umpteen professional awards for his ground-breaking documentaries on natural history he’s now widely regarded as one of Britain’s ‘national treasures’. 

All the fire in his chart gives him vision and a strong pioneering spirit which is very well-earthed by his Taurus Sun and fixed planets which form a grand fixed cross.  Not only does he brim with ground-breaking, new ideas but he has the strength and staying power to keep on turning them into programmes.

Image: WWF

You would expect the 9^th house to be prominent in his chart for, on leaving Cambridge University,   he started his career in educational publishing and later joined the BBC in the early 1950s, soon to become a TV producer.  He originated the series Zoo Quest in 1954 at the time of his first Saturn return.   In 1974 he went freelance and produced multiple award-winning series on natural history, Life on Earthbeing the first of many.  Released on 16 January 1979 he was making it at the time of his Chiron return and in 2024 with the release of Mammals he is still working on the run up to his second Chiron return!  Chiron could well sit close to his midheaven.

We tend to emphasise the wounding and healing aspect of Chiron but should remember that it’s also very much about education and the development of wisdom, for Chiron was a wise healer.  As Attenborough’s career progressed he came to realise that humanity was suffering from a delusion in thinking that the earth’s natural resources were inexhaustible and that the nature kingdom would be there forever.   His work became increasingly politicised as he aired his environmental concerns.  This co-incided with his third Saturn return around 2014, and in recent decades he has become as much educator as naturalist. 

Image: Sarah Kilian

His natal Chiron in Aries widely conjunct Mercury describes him as a pioneer and visionary educator who uses his powers of speech and writing to help alert the world to the fact that our own planet is wounded and in urgent need of healing.  With his Sun in Taurus, Attenborough’s current incarnation revolves around the soul purpose of Service through Love.  As part of the fixed grand cross his Sun opposes Saturn and squares Neptune and Jupiter.  It can be said that his life mission has been to help transform peoples’ attitude towards the Earth and how we extract and use her natural resources (Saturn in Scorpio); to help us see the wound we have inflicted upon our planet which threatens her and our very life  (Neptune in Leo); and to show reasons to be optimistic about the future providing we do what’s needed (Jupiter in Aquarius). 

Whatever the ultimate outcome of the crisis we face, David Attenborough will certainly have played his part well and done what he possibly could to save the planet by educating us and through his programmes stimulate love in our hearts that we might also do what we can to serve our planet Earth.