Caught between compassion and contempt, comedian Bill Hicks straddled these two emotional landscapes constantly. His comedic work would oscillate between lighting the current human condition on satirical fire and then shifting into a more spiritual world view to reel his audience back in.
His delivery was that of a fiery preacher, yet he often challenged and opposed organized religion. His comedy was dark, poignant, and was always searching for greater meaning and truth in a world that was getting harder for him to access as he explored religion, politics, war and the overall health of the society at large. Many compared his style to that of Richard Pryor or Lenny Bruce, embracing dark comedy, often referred to as “black humor” or “sick comedy”.
Dark, sick comedy began to evolve in the 1960’s which was a style that brought more of an observational monologue vs the more topical comedy punch of one-liners. The job of black humor or sick comedy was to point out the futility of life through a comical and morbid element. Sick comedy was laced with elements of political satire, cynicism, and complete with social criticism. Hick’s comedy was deeply embedded in this style and so we turn to his chart to see where this worldview emanates from.
Telling the Truth and Exposing the Lies
Eyes are immediately drawn to the planetary stellium in fiery, mutable Sagittarius, Hick’s 3rd house. Included amongst the stellium, is a one-two punch cazimi involving both Mercury and Mars. Both planets culminate right at the 24° Sag Sun, certainly driving his mental and communicative processes towards the rebellious comedy legacy he has cemented. Known as an outlaw comic, he was always edging himself towards societal exile with his pointed takes.
The martial and mercurial power building around his natal Sun, amplifies this solar energy in a double-bodied fire sign, generating intense passion, heat and vocal energy. If he wasn’t such a critic of organized religion, one could see these placements generating the archetype of an evangelical preacher passionately and rhythmically delivering a sermon complete of fire and brimstone. Honestly his comedy isn’t much different.
I say unto thee my mission was no less holy, my intent no less pure. A changing moment in my life came the day I first laughed. That was when life took a new form and my sad visions were cleansed by humor and from that day on I paid homage to comedy. From that day on I studied with the zeal of monks lost in religious rapture, the works of the comedy masters. For I loved comedy and I loved those who loved it. - Bill Hicks
Often we associate Sagittarius natives with unwavering optimism and expansive tendencies, yet with Hicks we are often met with challenges to the status quo and angry, frustrated rants of man’s actions. Sagittarius is the sign of higher ideals, persistent searching for justice and ultimate truth, not wishing to be contained by societal expectations. Preacher Hick’s comedic style begins from this premise of truth-seeking and builds out. In mutable fire fashion, he expands and breathes angry passion into his rants, building intense scorched heat, then just as the listener begins to turn their faces from the overwhelming flames of hard truth, he quells the fire with attempting to raise the consciousness of the listener into a transcendental perspective. Somewhere in between the fire and brimstone, he inserts the laughs, often fueled by his idealistic hopes.
To me, the comic is a flame, like Shiva the Destroyer, toppling idols no matter what they are. - Bill Hicks
This is Mars and Mercury conjunct the Sagittarius Sun. The Sun is his comedy, and his observations on the world shine bright, they shine hot, and at times they shine with a cruel bent, embodying both the light and shadow mutable Sag possesses. No one is exactly safe in accordance with Hick's material. Reflective of a cazimi that seeks to protect and strengthen planets joining the Sun, his aim was always to sanitize the absurdity of hypocrisy and all who support it. He held the illness and the antidote.
I talk to an audience the way I talk to my friends. If they don’t like it, if they don’t wanna be friends with me, then f*ck them. That is their problem. I don’t see them as the enemy-sometimes people just want to be the enemy. - Bill Hicks
Hick’s Aries Moon, which is also ruled by the natal fiery cazimi, further fan the flames, encouraging a war of words. He does recognize that his perspective is divisive and controversial; he is not concerned.
The best kind of comedy to me is when you make people laugh at things they’ve never laughed at, also to take a light into the darkened corners of people’s mind, exposing them to the light. - Bill Hicks
The 12° Aries Moon, overseeing Bill’s 10th house of Cancer, receives a superior trine from Venus, a Sagittarius stellium placement. Venus, who sits in her own bounds, reaches out to Luna, cooling her rage with perhaps a more soulful embrace.
Today I realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration. That we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors, vibrations in the mind of the one true god, whose name is Love. - Bill Hicks
If we were to step outside of the traditional astro-perspective, Bill’s natal Pluto (also in the bounds of Venus) applies to Venus in square aspect from the liminal realm of the 12th house. An underworld invocation, a dark jester, pacing in the shadowy corners of the psyche. His art attempts redemption or maybe exorcism from the ills of the world, all the while trying to make it more palpable through dark humor. This sharp aspect may very well explain the principle of “love” in Hick’s chart being both challenged and embraced.
When two or more people agree on an issue, I form on the other side. - Bill Hicks
Venus in perfect Venusian fashion, is sextile to his rising sign Libra, compassionately placing her finger on the scale. Offering perspective, seeking equilibrium, often siding with the underdog or the imbalance, always burning with that hot cazimi edge.
Jester or Philosopher?
I get a kick out of being an outsider constantly, allows me to be creative. - Bill Hicks
His ideals are flying high, but also throwing him right into the outer realms of Saturn’s cold walls. Jupiter is also the ruler of his Sagittarius stellium, and placed in Aquarius, we can see how on one hand he is challenged to love the individual, but his work often reflects a compassion for the collective. This also drove his creativity.
Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is nonsuch thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Here’s Tom with the Weather. - Bill Hicks
Bill’s natal Jupiter in Aquarius, 5th house of creativity, amplifies his comedic process and how he utilizes his burning desire to move society out of the dark ages and into something more mystical and connected. Bill often spoke of his experiences with hallucinogens and their doorway to experiencing something greater outside of man’s five senses.
It’s just a ride. We can change it anytime we want. It’s a choice right now between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your door, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see us all as one. - Bill Hicks
Perhaps Bill was truly a spiritual philosopher, masking as a jester?
A Sick Punch Line
Bill was rising into fame in the early 90’s, appearing regularly on David Letterman, pursuing acting and music as well. The hands of fate would deliver a fatal punch line, the sickest of sick comedy.
June 16, 1993, Bill was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that had spread to his liver. He was just 31 years old. On the day of diagnosis, the transiting Gemini Sun sat in exact opposition to his natal Sun cazimi, which was the exact same degree of a lunar eclipse in Sagittarius on June 4th. Jupiter, ruler of his 3rd house solar stellium and 6th house of illness, declared judgement on his Ascendant Degree. Saturn had just entered Pisces, casting a time shadow across the landscape of his health. The day after the diagnosis, the Moon would enter a Gemini New Moon phase, technically not a solar eclipse, but certainly still running with the ecliptic wave energy. Bill had a new door to walk through in his house of spiritual reasoning, if he was to make any sense out of it all.
Why me!? I would cry out, and Why now!? Well, I know there may never be any answers to those particular questions, but maybe in telling a little about myself, we can have some other answers to other questions. That might help our way down our own particular paths, toward realizing my dream of New Hope and New Happiness. Amen. - Bill Hick’s final letter, penned by a faithful Sag, Feb. 7, 1994
He moved back to his parents home for his final month, saying his final goodbyes and stopped speaking all together on Feb 14, 1994. Mercury, his time lord of his final year, had just stationed retrograde at 7 ° Pisces, 6th house of sickness. Retrograde Mercury was also opposing natal Pluto and transiting Chiron exactly.
Often, in textbook fashion, Chiron highlights acute pain points. Chiron was not only opposing Mercury and Venus, but this was also Hick’s Chiron opposition. The antidote to his pain, his voice, could not be accessed and was ushered underground, handed over to Hades, preparing his soul to follow.
On February 26,1994 at 11:20 pm, age 32, Bill stepped off of one ride and boarded another, Charon’s riverboat. The Virgo Full Moon had just passed over his 12th house Pluto and was squaring his natal stellium to the precise 24th degree, carrying his culminating light through and beyond the shadow realm.
The closing words of that letter Bill penned and which appear on his headstone read, “I left in love, in laughter, and in truth and wherever truth, love, and laughter abide, I am there in spirit.”
The Sagittarius spirit lives on beyond any constraints.
Bill Hicks' work would gain massive fan-fare posthumously, this could be a whole other case study. Comment below if you would like me to reflect on this in the future.
Molly Curtis is a practicing astrologer and archetypal tarot reader, based in Michigan. You can connect further with her astro-musings or schedule a reading at Analogskyastrology.com.
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Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Fantastic.