Benefics & Malefics, Part Two: When Good Planets Harm and Bad Planets Help

In the last post, I discussed how planets in traditional astrology are powerful actors that affect the circumstances of our lives—for better or worse. Contrasted with modern astrology which says planets are neutral, psychological symbols. Traditional astrologers classify planets as benefics or malefics. Benefics such as Venus, Jupiter & the Moon temper the elements, resulting in life, growth and abundance. Whereas malefic Mars and Saturn bring excessive heat and coldness respectively, resulting in corruption and destruction.

In this post, we’re going to look at chart examples of public figures to see how this plays out in real life.

First, we have Erykah Badu, a singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Her chart is a great example of how the benefics bring elevation. Her most benefic planets are the Sun and Jupiter, promising good fortune. Her career began at age 23 during her Jupiter-Sun Fidaria period when she got a recording contract after opening for D’Angelo. Her first album went triple platinum, and her second album went double platinum. In her chart the 5^th house, which represents entertainment, is ruled by a very strong Jupiter in its home sign Sagittarius. Her 5^th house contains her natal Sun which is life purpose. The Sun, also a strong benefic, rules her 10th house—public success. She found success as an entertainer sparked by a strong Jupiter (elevation).

Now let’s look at an example of a classic malefic.

Scholar and Marxist activist Angela Davis was in a Mercury/Mars Fidaria period when she was fired twice from her associate professor position at U.C.L.A. and then jailed as a political prisoner for nearly two years over an incident in a Marin County Courthouse that resulted in four deaths, one of them by a gun she owned. She was acquitted in 1972. Her natal Mars is disruptive, sits in her 2nd house of possessions and rules her 7th house of open enemies and 12th house of imprisonment.

So, there we have it. The Moon, Venus and Jupiter = good. Mars and Saturn = bad. That’s all there is to it right? Wrong.

Determining a planet’s condition in traditional astrology doesn’t stop at knowing whether we are looking at Jupiter or Saturn. Jupiter/Venus/Moon being benefic and Saturn/Mars being malefic is a classification based on a planet’s essential nature. But a planet’s baseline for bringing blessings or harm, and how it behaves in a birth chart are two different things. Think of the difference between objective vs subjective. Objectively, Venus brings harmony, love and pleasure. But that doesn’t mean Venus’s actions result in good fortune in every chart. Just like objectively Mars brings separations, competition and the desire to dominate which can cause conflict. But in some situations, these things are beneficial even necessary to achieve a positive result. This is what Abu Ma’shar distinguishes between a planet’s essential nature—innate qualities that do not change, and their property—what happens because of the planet’s action. A planet’s property varies from chart to chart. [1]

Simone Biles is an example of a malefic bringing elevation. In her chart, Mars and Saturn are the most beneficial planets. Mars is in her 7th house of open adversaries, in this case her competitors. In 2021 a year that activated her Pisces planets opposite Mars in Virgo, Simone Biles withdrew from events during the 2020 Summer Olympics after a near-fall, due to concerns about her mental health, and experiencing “the twisties”, sparking criticism. After missing the next few days of competition, she returned and won bronze. She later said winning bronze despite the challenges she faced “means more than all of the golds because I pushed through so much the last five years and the last week while I’ve even been here. [2]

 Simone Biles is unquestionably the GOAT of Olympic gymnastics and Mars is tempered enough bring her blessings in the form of dominating her competition. But Mars also signifies the refusal to give in under pressure. In Simone’s case, she didn’t let outside pressure push her to compete when she wasn’t in the right head space and in the process, validated others in similar situations as part of a trend of high-profile athletes prioritizing mental health over performance. Additionally, Saturn represents discipline, and one can only imagine the long-term discipline it takes to compete at her level. Saturn rules her 11H of coaches and benefactors, and 12th house of limitations and ailments. In 2016 Simone disclosed that she was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and takes medication, further raising her profile and helping to de-stigmatize mental health and disabilities.[3] Saturn and Mars bring her challenges but over time, result in her elevation.

Just as Mars/Saturn don’t always promise an unfortunate result, benefics don’t always bring good fortune.

In musician Lauryn Hill’s chart Venus is the most malefic, bringing good fortune that does not last and comes with ill fortune. Venus, the planet of relationships is harmed by a debilitated Saturn, among other factors. She found success as a musician, becoming one of the most influential of her time. But the successful group she formed with Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel had a public and messy breakup when her affair with married Wyclef Jean ended. This afflicted Venus sits in her 11th house of friends and allies. Since then, she’s written about the hostility she faced in the industry (broken bonds) and how it led her to withdraw from the spotlight. Her solo album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” recorded during a Venus-year, is one of the best-selling albums of all time, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress. To date it is her only album.

Additionally, Venus rules Lauryn’s second house of assets, and the ninth house of the law. In 2012 she was charged with failing to pay taxes on $2.8M she earned in years prior. She pled guilty and spent roughly 3 months in prison in 2013 after paying what she owed. In court, Lauryn said despite selling a significant number of records. In her words, she lives quite “modestly.” [4] Venus naturally rules money and its affliction in her chart not only harms her relationships with people in her profession but Venus’ conjunction with a debilitated Saturn prevents her from enjoying the fruits of her labor (money).

A benefic brings things that feel good but remember what makes a planet truly beneficial is temperance. [5] The same way malefics can be tempered and beneficial, benefics can create excess that is harmful. Something common in modern astrology is for people to ignore the nature of a planet because their personal experience runs to the contrary. Social media is laden with people insisting that because their personal experience with Mars or Saturn is positive, that means these planets are beneficial for everyone. This is incorrect and misses the nuance of astrology. The fact that misfortune results from Venus, or good fortune results from Mars in a person’s chart, doesn’t alter Venus or Mars’ essential nature. [6]

In short, each person will have a unique experience with each wandering star over the course of their life. The particulars of that experience require examining the birth chart following the methodology laid out by Abu Ma’shar and practiced by other Medieval Islamicate astrologers.

In the next post, we will move on to the 12 signs. Why are there twelve of them, anyway?

Sources Cited

[1] Abu Ma’shar. The Great Introduction to Astrology. Vol.1. Edited and translated by Keiji Yamamoto and Charles Burnett, Brill, 2019. P. 293

[2] "WATCH: Simone Biles Makes Triumphant Olympic Return with Bronze on Beam." NBC Olympics, August 3, 2021.

[3] Crawford, Amanda. "Bravo, Simone Biles, for Taking a Stand Against ADHD Stigma." ESPN, September 21, 2016.

[4] "Singer Lauryn Hill Going to Prison for Not Paying Taxes." Fox2Now (KTVI), July 8, 2013.

[5] Abu Ma’shar, Great Introduction, p. 381

[6] Abu Ma’shar, Great Introduction, pp. 391, 393