There is a revealing quote by Robert Smith when read alongside his natal chart: “the fact that I was gonna be thirty”. The anguish before Disintegration intensified when he was confronted with the idea that all the great masterpieces of rock had been produced before the age of 30. He then began composing in isolation, away from the band, and the material immediately assumed a bleak tone, which he himself attributed to that awareness of time.
This dynamic is clear when analysed through medieval astrology. With Leo rising, the Sun is the significator of the native and is in the 10th house, highly angular, at the top of the sky. This is a connection between incarnation, represented by the Ascendant degree, and praxis, the native’s telos, signified by the 10th. Visible in the upper arch, it creates a constant pull towards the summit. The Sun, as ruler of the Ascendant and placed in the 10th, shows that the native is born with a powerful compulsion to fulfil his role in the world, to actualise his form and hilomorphism.
Also as the primary significator of fame, this specific Sun grants him extraordinary visibility. And, being in the fixed earth of Venus, it acquires an artistic character. There is also another relevant technical detail. Leo occupies the cusps of the 1st and the 2nd houses, meaning that the Sun connects identity, resources and destiny. The native can directly generate material resources through his own expression in the world. Since the Sun is peregrine at 0º Taurus, it is also interesting to note that position is indeed the strongest dignity a planet can have. Particularly when disposed by Venus in the 11th in 7º Gemini, which is also peregrine. We can conclude that it is the position of the Sun (plus the fact that it rules the native himself) that most contributes to Smith’s world-wide fame.
By Alcabitius, the Sun is indeed in the 10th; by Whole Signs, it shifts into the 11th, which expands its field of action to the domain of friends, groups, collectives and, yes, bands. The 11th, as the house that supports the 10th, also includes the audience, the fans, a decisive factor in the trajectory of The Cure. But the central point remains: when the ruler of the Ascendant is in the 10th, there is a clear orientation and pulls towards the fulfilment of a famous destiny.
The Midheaven in Aries reinforces this notion, since the Sun is exalted in that sign, consolidating its dominant role in shaping the native’s telos. Another indication of how powerful a planet can be when placed in an angular house is that the dispositor of the 10th is Mars, a malefic, which is in a very poor zodiacal condition, being in fall and placed in the 12th, the worst house of the chart. Without a strong Sun such as Robert Smith’s, his destiny would easily turn sour, leading to anguish and self-undoing perpetrated by this vile Mars.
The trine between the Sun and Saturn, the latter dignified by domicile in Capricorn, albeit retrograde in the cadent 6th, does not significantly compromise this structure; its good zodiacal state in Capricorn and the harmonious nature of the trine aspect mitigate most of its harmful effects, even while situated in a house associated with illness, servitude and employees. It would have been much worse if this aspect happened to be a square or an opposition.
Still, this slight pressure from Saturn may have contributed to the need of Robert Smith for isolation to start working on Disintegration, especially because this Saturn was the time lord of the profected 6th year in 1988, when he was 29 years old. Saturn is the clock ticking and Smith did feel the burden of time, according to himself.
The pressure Smith felt as he approached 30 can also be understood through the triplicity rulers of the 10th. Since Aries is a Fire sign, and since this is a diurnal birth, the first ruler of the 10th by triplicity is the Sun, covering approximately the first 25 years of life, a period corresponding to the formation of the band and its early successes. Thereafter, Jupiter took over as the second ruler, governing the span between 25 and 50. Jupiter is domiciled in Sagittarius, in the 5th house, the place of creativity, pleasure and fun. This is a strong placement. Jupiter has great essential dignity, in a benefic house, with no affliction from malefics, and a trine to the Ascendant, reinforcing Smith’s drive for creative expression. Very positive testimonies that also mitigated the negative impact from Jupiter’s retrograde motion in his chart.
It is within this context that Disintegration emerges. When Smith felt the pressure to create his magnum opus, Jupiter was acting as the chronocrator of the 10th house by triplicity, helping him to fulfill his destiny. Its placement in the 5th, in a Fire sign like Sagittarius, speaks of an intense urge to create and expand, to produce something fully aligned with his path of incarnation.
Now in the final third of life, the control is under the thumb of Saturn, the final, participating ruler of the Fire triplicity. This phase is being marked by a reduction in creative output, consistent with Saturn’s constrictive nature. That pattern was only recently interrupted with the release of Songs of a Lost World, after roughly two decades without new records.
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