Natal Chart Analysis of Elizabeth Fraser: The Voice of God
#1 in a new series investigating the natal charts and biographies of famous historical figures
Elizabeth Davidson Fraser born August 29, 1963 is a famous Scottish singer who fronted the internationally acclaimed band Cocteau Twins during the 1980s and 90s. The Cocteau Twins released nine studio albums and numerous EPs and singles. Their music falls within the Indie/alternative rock subgenre of Shoegaze characterized by an ethereal mix of obscure vocals and guitar distortion. Heaven or Las Vegas released in 1990 is their most famous album. In addition to her work with the Cocteau Twins, Elizabeth Fraser has worked with other alternative music groups including Massive Attack and This Mortal Coil. The most successful singles recorded with these two groups were Song to the Siren (1983) and Teardrop (1998) respectively.
Melody Maker’s journalist Steve Sutherland once described Elizabeth Fraser as “the voice of God” (Wikipedia). Christopher Knowles, author of Our Gods Wear Spandex and The Secret Sun blog has provided extensive documentation demonstrating an astonishing degree of correlation between the release of Elizabeth Fraser’s music and world changing events. He refers to her in his writings as The Sybil.
Ms. Fraser would seem to have some highly unique aspects to her life story that set her apart and make her a compelling case study. Unfortunately her birth time is unknown. The lack of a birth time is especially important when reading a natal chart. Without a birth time we cannot know the placement of the planets within the houses. The houses are one of four basic components that make up the art of Astrology; the other three are the planets, signs, and aspects (Houlding).
In analyzing Elizabeth Fraser’s natal chart, I will not be giving a natal chart reading with prognostications and details relating to her personal life. I will instead make some broad astrological observations and how they relate to what is publicly known about her life as an artist and person.
When the birth time is unknown it is customary to set the birth time to noon, the midpoint of a day. Though the time of birth is crucial for house placement, the planets move slowly enough that 12 hours one way or the other doesn’t usually make much of a difference for the planets sign and aspects. The one exception is the Moon. The Moon moves approximately 6 degrees in 12 hours and so could be off by that much in a 12 noon birth chart.
Rather than go with a 12 noon birth time, I have chosen to use 11am instead. This would put Libra on her ascendant and make Venus her ruling planet. Based upon her physical characteristics, I believe there is a good chance that Venus is in fact ruling planet and Libra her rising sign. This is of course all speculation but will allow for a more coherent narrative that is admittedly based on speculation but nonetheless does fit Fraser’s profile.
The Ascendant’s sign and ruling planet give a physical description of the native. Venus brings roundness and curves not tall, but well proportioned; good hair, light to brown, smooth and shiny; round face with large eyes and cherry lips; dimple cheeks and/or cleft chin . Venus is associated with professions that soothe the senses including artists, singers, musicians, and performers in general (Houlding).
Here we can see the first three houses of the chart with the ascendant at 21° Libra. Mars appears to be in the 12th house but is considered to be in the 1st house due to the 5° rule. In traditional astrology, planets are said to be able to cast their rays five degrees forward. As a result, planets are said to belong to the next house if they are within five degrees of a house cusp.
With Mars in the 1st house and on the ascendant we find a talent for dynamic cooperation and synergy with a heightened sense of physical energy and an unwillingness to compromise (Butler). Less than two from the ascendant is Spica at 23° Libra 19`. Spica is the alpha star of the constellation Virgo and is considered a very fortunate star, particularly for situations concerned with art, sciences, law, and religion. Spica bestows great unexpected success and favors inventiveness in the mercurial arts (Houlding).
In the 3rd house we see the Moon in its house of Joy. A planet in its house of Joy rejoices for there its influence is allowed to be freely expressed. The 3rd house governs messages, short journeys, and the fortunes and fates of siblings. Ptolemy writes when describing the Moon in the 2nd century:
“The Moon as the heavenly body nearest the earth, bestows her effluence most abundantly on mundane things, for most of them, animate or inanimate, are sympathetic to her and change in company with her; the rivers increase and diminish their streams with her light, the seas turn their own tides with her rising and settings, plants and animals in whole or in some part wax and wane with her.”
Mars placed in the 1st house of self, personality, and body can be considered as a significator for the native. Other planets in close to aspect to Mars become co-significators. Mars and Jupiter are in a close opposition with a 2° orb. Renn Butler in his book The Archetypal Universe compares the Mars/Jupiter pairing as being akin to the heroic adventure of Jason and the Argonauts quest for the golden fleece. Big-shot swagger, passion, macho vocal theatrics and great accomplishment are other descriptive phrases he uses to describe the pairing of these two planets. Ms. Fraser herself once described the physical exertion involved in having to sing against the wall of the Cocteau Twins sound as being “like an endurance test”. Sue Thompkins writes in her book Aspects in Astrology that the Mars/Jupiter configuration brings a tendency to get carried away. The native believes they can get away with anything and as a result they often do. Further, they may over-extend themselves and find themselves in hot water. One hopes for a strong Saturn in the chart to offset the potential dangers of this hard aspect.
Interestingly Elizabeth does have a strong Saturn in her chart; Saturn in Aquarius is in its house of rulership or domicile. In addition Saturn is seen making close aspects to both Mars and Jupiter, a trine and sextile respectively. The easy flowing and benefic aspect of the trine and sextile aspects allow Saturn to channel the tense energy from the Mars/Jupiter opposition. Any tendency for “over-the-top vocal theatrics” is reigned in by Saturn’s technique and discipline. This trio of planets in aspect to each helps to explain a unique vocal style that no other known artist has yet come close to even approximating.
The section of houses where Elizabeth has the most planets is above the horizon (social and collective) and to the left where the planets are rising (individual action). Located here is a stellium of planets in Virgo. These four planets are all within a 6° orb and are in conjunction with each other. When planets form aspects to each other their energies interact in either a positive flowing energy or else in a negative confrontational manner. The conjunction is distinct from the other aspects. It is the strongest form of planetary contact; the planets energies become blended together into a conglomeration. Weaker planets will become overwhelmed when paired with a stronger planet. This is especially true when the conjunction involves the Sun due to his overwhelming strength.
The first planet in the Virgo stellium is Venus. She is within 11 minutes of arc from the center of the Sun. When a planet is this close to the center of the Sun they are considered to be “cazimi”. Any planet within 16 minutes arc from the center of the Sun is cazimi. Cazimi is a ”...synodic union-- the period when a planet lines up into perfect conjunction with the Sun. Ancient texts describe the Sun as releasing a generative surge of power, likened to the burst of creativity that occurs in human fertility during conception. Profound in significance...” (Houlding). When Venus is cazimi it becomes auspicious and powerful especially where human connections and passionate communications are found such as in artistic pursuits, love, and friendship.
In Elizabeth’s chart, Venus is in the sign of Virgo. It is the sign of Venus’s fall; it is not a place she is comfortable in. She would much rather be in one of her home signs Taurus or Libra; she is also happy in the sign of Pisces where she is exalted. A planet in fall tends to bring out the worst characteristics of a planet.
Though Venus is in Virgo, we see nearby Mercury is in Libra. These two planets are in each other’s ruling house signs or domiciles. When two planets occupy each others’ house it is called mutual reception. For true mutual reception to occur the planets should also be in aspect to each other. When planets are in a mutual reception without being in aspect, they are said to be in “generosity”. Mutual reception demonstrates a mutual benefit for both planets as they are able to respond effectively and facilitate each others needs (Houlding). With Venus in Virgo and Mercury in Libra we can see the two planets helping each other out. This is especially significant with Venus being cazimi combined with the remarkable psychic powers of Mercury channeling Virgo.
Venus with the help of Mercury in Libra is now able to express herself fully and without her shadow side making a mess of things. Venus is the goddess of fertility, she is both desire and the object desired. Her significations include the bed, the bedroom, and upper chambers of the household; further significations include the daffodil (narcissus), the dolphin, and her angel is Anael.
The Sun represents the spirit and the way in which we interact with the outer world. His significations include the home, courts, palaces, dining rooms, and theaters. He is the ship’s captain and the sky-chariot we ride in each day.
Combining the significations of these two planets with the sign of Virgo where we find those who are craftsmen, artists, and obsessive perfectionists, begins to reveal the kind of horoscope associated with an artist otherwise known as “the voice of God”.
Uranus and Pluto are also part of this Virgo stellium, especially Uranus since it is like Venus very close to the heart of the Sun. Uranus is within 17` of arc from the center of Sun. This is one minute of arc from meeting the 16` definition of cazimi. It is unusual to see a planet in cazimi in a natal chart, but having two planets this close to the center of the sun is nothing short of remarkable. Uranus gives unpredictability, eccentricity, cruel violence, and shocking separation (Houlding). He is not necessarily malefic but more often is being associated with divorce, serious accidents, and sudden death.
Though Pluto is not cazimi, he is a relatively close 6° from our trio of planets at 5° Virgo. Pluto as a fourth partner in our conglomeration brings obsession, intense situations, and power struggles. Pluto sextile to Mars and conjunct Uranus are astrological signatures for the sexual abuse and family rejection that Ms. Fraser has described experiencing as a teenager.
While Pluto’s energies are often dark and hidden from site, their profound intensity can bring to light unparalleled powers as noted by Renn Butler in his book The Archetypal Universe: Sun/Venus with Pluto brings primal charisma; Sun/Uranus with Pluto may result in profound evolutionary breakthroughs, and liberated Dionysian energies.
Besides the Virgo stellium the Moon in Sagittarius is highly unusual in that it aspects all of the other traditional planets. A planet in Sagittarius is open, warm, and spontaneous (Harvey). Her Moon brings this Sagittarius energy through the six aspects that she makes. All of the aspects are of the easy benefic sort except for one. She makes a sextile to Saturn on her right and to Mars on her left; a trine to Jupiter on her right and to Venus and the Sun on her left. Finally, the only planet where the Moon makes a difficult aspect is a square to Mercury.
The Moon being at the end of its sign at 29° Sagittarius is very interesting. I have noticed that the sign of Sagittarius is often found in a prominent position in the astrology charts of performance artists, whether it be the Moon, Sun, or rising sign. In this chart the Moon must cross into the sign of Capricorn in order to perfect its trine to the Sun, Venus, and Uranus. This is known as an out-of-sign aspect. This out-of-sign aspect combines a Sagittarius Moon with a group of Virgo planets. Sagittarius and Virgo are both mutable signs representing a person who exists in two separate worlds. The Moon close to the end of Sagittarius must first enter Capricorn to perfect its trine with the Sun and Venus. This gives us another symbol pointing to the idea of changeableness and the sign of Capricorn, the most ambitious of the earth signs, with its symbol the fish-goat associated with the Greek god Pan.
When the Moon crosses into Capricorn, it first perfects a square to Mercury before it goes on to perfect its trine with Sun/Venus. This gives a visual representation of the generosity between Mercury and Venus described earlier. If Elizabeth Fraser were born six hours later in the day, which she might have been, the Moon would translate the light from Mercury to Venus and thereby provide the connecting aspect required for a true mutual reception to occur between Mercury and Venus. Either way the Moon provides another very interesting part to the overall astrological picture of this birth chart.
On Wednesday September 27th, 2023 a main-belt asteroid, 2013 TF19, was given the name Fraser in honor of Elizabeth Fraser. See this article on Stereogum for the official announcement.
When Ms. Fraser was born in 1963 her asteroid was at 23° Virgo. An appropriate place given the strong Virgo theme in her natal chart. The Fraser asteroid was also in aspect to her natal Moon by square with a 5° orb. More information about the Fraser asteroid is available here at the NASA Small-Body Database Lookup. When the asteroid was named on September 27th, 2023, Fraser (2013 TF19) was at 14 ° Sagittarius. In a little less than 3 years and 3 months, she will return to that location on December 17, 2026. On December 3rd 2025, she will be 23° Virgo, the same location when Elizabeth Fraser was born.