How can an empty 5th house represent an artist like Björk? Let us look at this.
By Alcabitius, the cusp of the 5th house falls in Aries, and Mars is exalted in Capricorn in the 2nd by quadrant houses and in the 3rd by Whole Signs, so it is a planet of great essential strength and moderate accidental power. On top of that, Mars is also the primary significator of the native, since the rising sign is Scorpio. So, in the chart, Mars in Capricorn in the 2nd/3rd joins the native (1st house) to the house of creativity (5th house), since Mars disposes both and is the Almuten Ascendentis too.
Mars is not alone, as it shares space with Venus in the sign of Capricorn, blending the capacity for action in the concrete stone of Cardinal Earth with the sensitive and artistic side of Venus. Venus itself also has an applying partile sextile to the degree of the Ascendant, so the primary Martial motivation of Björk is and will forever be touched by this Venus. By Whole Signs, Venus moves into the 3rd house, a typical placement of someone who is keen on communicating with the world through artistic ways, using that positive sextil with the Ascendant degree.
Venus is also quite well dignified in 15 Capricorn, where she accumulates 3 points of the Water triplicity, plus 2 from being on her own term. The fact that she rules the 7th and 11th shows that her partnerships and friends have always had an artistic quality to it that impacted Mars (herself and her creativity), shown by her relationships with Matthew Barney, Þór Eldon, or Tricky.
The Moon, the symbol of the psychic substance of the soul, sits between the 12th and the 1st, being is in this chart the significator of Björk’s hidden enemies, torment and self-undoing. It is the one of the worst planets of the chart in terms of essential quality, since it is in fall in Scorpio and in the via combusta. Since it is in the 12th by quadrants and in the 1st by Whole Signs, the heavy blockages of this balsamic Moon directly impacted her throughout her life. But being disposed by a good Mars allowed her to find a conduit.
Mars and his proximity to Venus are not the only things that must be taken into account. The almuten of the 5th house is the Sun by a wide margin. The degree of 17 Aries accounts for 4 points from the Sun’s exaltation, 3 points from the Sun’s triplicity in signs of Fire, and 1 point from the Sun’s own decan at that degree. Just as important as Mars, or even more so, is the Sun itself as a significator of Björk’s artistic creativity.
The Sun in/or highly related to the 5th house is a very strong indication for artists. In this case, the Sun is not in the 5th, but in the 1st, so that creative vein was born fused to the Icelander herself. Nevertheless, the Sun in 28 Scorpio is peregrine, so completely at mercy of his dispositor Mars to gain strenght. And Mars in Capricorn is indeed a strong significator of intense labour, being exalted, while the Sun in Scorpio signifies the fame that this effort her, her reputation and public standing.
Also, when the Sun is in the 1st, it becomes a major catapult for fame and visibility for the native, unless harmed by the malefics, which is not the case here. And, being the almuten of the 5th, that visibility and rank comes from creation. The Sun also rules the 9th in Leo, the house of higher knowledge, philosophy, foreign lands, and the grand stage and performance itself signified by Leo. Her fame is greatly related to the international stage and having the 9th in Leo proves just that.
By quadrant houses, Mercury is also in the 1st, in its joy, since Mercury is itself the significator of intellect, ingenuity, rationality, and the capacity to process information and translate it. In Sagittarius, Mercury is in detriment, too quick, with less analytic capacity than usual, albeit with a visionary, philosophical, foreign side, able to leap from topic to topic with great speed, even if superficially. But the detriment of this Mercury in Sagittarius is softened by being in the 1st, its joy, whilst planets in that house work to bestow talents upon the native. The fact that Mercury is dispositor of the 10th and aspects it by square shows that Mercury itself was decisive for the singer’s public role in the world.
Mercury, being dispositor and almuten of the 10th, also makes it a significator of the mother, showing that this Sagittarian parent, by being in the 1st, had great influence on Björk, though there were also experiences of loss because Mercury also rules the cusp of the 8th house. As for the father, who left the family when she was very young, he is signified both by Saturn in the 3rd/4th in Pisces, disposed by Jupiter retrograde and in detriment in the 8th in Gemini, that same house of loss.
Even so, the fact that the greater benefic Jupiter is in poor essential and accidental condition has a strong counterweight: that same Sun with which we began this article happens to be conjunct Toliman, or Rigel Centaurus, a fixed star known as the Foot of the Centaur, a very benefic star of Jupiter-Venus nature, which have conferred even more artistic stature and grandeur on the notoriety already promised by the Sun in Björk’s 1st house.
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