Bruce Lee

Be Water, My Friend

Iconic martial arts celebrity Bruce Lee radiated an unparalleled intensity. His chart offers us an exceptional opportunity to gain insight into the nearly impenetrable realm of a Scorpio mind. Despite the fact that all but one of his natal planets are located on the inauspicious 6^th house – 12^th house axis, Bruce teaches us a great deal about overcoming obstacles and how to step into one’s personal power.

Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one. - Bruce Lee

In this chart, the mysterious 12^th house stellium in Scorpio appears to be an inspiring but hidden undercurrent, molding Bruce’s life through several great challenges that his well-dignified Mars gladly accepts. But let’s start with Bruce’s Sun in Sagittarius.

A Mentoring Father

In a tight adherence to the degree of the ascendant, the Sun sheds light on his father’s instrumental influence. Often a reliable signifier of a person’s father, the Sun, here in the 1^st sometimes has the ability to let a person embody the internalized image of the father, the physical father, as well as the idealized father figure.

A goal is not always meant to be reached; it often serves simply as something to aim at. - Bruce Lee

Perhaps Bruce found out how to be his best self through the example of his father. The 1^st house, describing Bruce’s character, is ruled by Jupiter, who also happens to be the domicile ruler of the 4^th house that is traditionally associated with the father; the synergy between Bruce and his father is clear.

Bruce’s father was a famous Cantonese opera singer. He brought his wife with him for an opera tour in Chinatown, San Francisco, and this is where Bruce was born. Much of Bruce’s life path is paved by his father, who taught him the fundamentals of Wu-style tai chi, and who introduced him to the world of cinema, leading to Bruce’s career as an actor. By the time he was 18, he had already appeared in 20 movies.

This chart is a great example of how our fate can be intertwined with other people’s fate, because the father-son influence flows both ways. Bruce’s birth weaves an interesting karmic strand into his father’s life. Jupiter, as I mentioned, represents Bruce’s father, as well as Bruce himself. Just separating from his conjunction to Saturn, retrograde Jupiter is now on his way to oppose Mars.

Enclosed Expressions

In other words, Jupiter is in a very tight malefic enclosure. Among many other expressions, this condition describes Bruce’s parents turning back to Hong Kong four months after Bruce was born, only to witness the Japanese attack on Hong Kong in 1941, putting an end to Jupiter’s freedom to travel. Interestingly, Bruce’s father, has a fallen Jupiter that’s about to enter a malefic enclosure in his chart. In other words, it’s almost as if the story around that enclosure further unfolds through Bruce’s existence.

The 6^th house of Bad Fortune was known to the ancient astrologers as a place of “low-birth”, which means that one is exposed to immediate hardships, setting one up with adversity before having done anything.

In Bruce’s chart, the 6^th house tells the story of the discrimination he faced several times in his life for reasons that were completely beyond his control. His mother was not 100% Chinese which is why he was initially rejected from training with the grand master of Wing Chun, Ip Man. The rule in the Chinese martial arts world was not to teach foreigners.

Later in his life, he was confronted with similar prejudice as he tried to make it in Hollywood. He found it extremely hard to find work, which is indicated by the 10^th house ruler Mercury residing in the 12^th house, and the ruler of the 2^nd house of livelihood and finances in the 6^th house.

However, the 6th house always is a very Mars-y colored space, testifying to a tireless fighter mentality. What happened? He did receive training from Ip Man, and he did become a movie star! When Jupiter and Saturn are together, you can bet that things start shifting sooner or later in someone’s life. Bruce certainly became a major influence in the movie industry, bringing awareness to the beauty of martial arts.

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee

While introducing martial arts to a broader western public, he also received criticism and even threats for sharing some martial secrets with westerners. It’s obvious that in many ways, Bruce was caught between a rock and a hard place.

On a very concrete level, the malefic enclosure in the 6^th house of illness and accidents points to a bad injury that hurt his back. Whoever told Bruce he would never be able to train again, severely underestimated him. Bruce took the time to create a very strict regimen for himself and formulated his philosophy.

Are you going to let the obstacles in your life be stumbling blocks or stepping stones? Choose the positive. You are the master of your attitude. - Bruce Lee

Although Bruce majored in philosophy, like most Sagittarius rising people he needed the freedom to create his own life philosophy. In a way that is typical for this Jupiter-ruled sign, Bruce incorporated many different teachings into one unified philosophy.

The enclosure also describes his untimely death. At the age of 32, he died  from an allergic reaction to the tranquilizer meprobamate. Helm ruler Jupiter, representing his body, is with the god of death, Saturn, who happens to be the ruler of the 2^nd house, which is associated with anything that we ingest.

In the Solar Return chart for the year of his death we see that Jupiter is in its fall in Capricorn and the Moon is in the 1^st house of the physical body. The Moon also rules the 8^th house of death. We know that both the Moon and Jupiter, as the 1^st house ruler, represent Bruce’s body and health in his birth chart, and now we see their importance underlined in the Solar Return chart.

Important to note is also the Neptune transit to his Sun in the 1^st house. This is a long term transit that is known to signify vague symptoms or illnesses caused by unknown factors.

On May 10, 1973, Bruce received a warning from his body as he collapsed and had seizures. He was diagnosed with cerebral edema. On that day, the transiting Moon activated her Solar Return placement at 1° Virgo, exactly opposing transiting Mars at 1° Pisces. Transiting Jupiter was at 11° Aquarius and was already slowing down to station retrograde at 12° Aquarius.

On Friday, July 20, 1973, he took a painkiller after complaining of a headache. He was unresponsive and died on arrival at the hospital, around the time when the transiting Moon had entered Aries to meet up with Mars, just 5 days after a lunar eclipse. Retrograde Jupiter at 8° Aquarius was applying to perfect a square to his natal Jupiter.

Even in death, Saturn is adding some controversy, as many of Bruce’s followers believe that he was cursed or murdered.

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