Welcome back to the second entry of my Queen Latifah nativity analysis series! Again the purpose of this series is to delineate the nativities of hip-hop figures by using a variety of Hellenistic and Medieval Islamicate techniques. During the inaugural entry in the series we took a preliminary glance at Latifah’s nativity, taking the condition of her Moon placement to pinpoint some circumstances of her life. In today’s entry, we’ll aim our gaze towards Queen Latifah’s Ascendant to see what else we can determine about her life.
So we can see that Taurus is rising in Queen Latifah’s nativity. Taurus is a fixed, earthy sign that serves as the domicile for Venus. In regards to the body Taurus is associated with the neck and throat, and people born under this sign are said to possess pleasant voices and be singers. Not only does Queen Latifah possess a low and soothing toned speaking voice, but she is also a talented singer. Latifah often credits the time that she spent in the church as a youth with developing her vocal talent. Despite initially breaking into the limelight via her impeccable skills as a rapper, Latifah has since released multiple albums in she was primarily singing – The Dana Owens Album and Trav’lin Light. Some of her most noteworthy roles throughout her career have been in musicals as well, particularly Chicago and Hairspray.
Taurus itself is also connected to entertainers and merchants. Now here we see some overlap with Latifah’s Moon being in Leo, as that is a sign that is connected to performers. As we all know, Queen Latifah is talented in several methods of performance – rapper, poet, actor, singer, and dancer. She is also a savvy “merchant”, having served in leadership roles across a variety of business ventures that include owning a video store, a clothing line, and the Flava Unit Productions conglomerate. It would be an understatement to say that the woman has had her hands in multiple pots throughout her life to this point.
Expanding further on the Ascendant, both malefics in the nativity are located in the 1st house. Interestingly enough, both Mars and Saturn in connection to the 1st house can indicate the individual appearing to be considerably younger than what their age would suggest ; Mars through its association with youthful vigor, Saturn through its association with longevity and endurance. Latifah does indeed fit both, at least in my opinion. Aside from that, Mars exchanges bounds and decans with Mercury, which is something that provides testimony to physicality and athleticism. Latifah has been inclined to athletic activites since childhood, often playing sports like football and basketball with her father and brother. In attempts to participate in such activities in school, she was dubbed a tomboy by the boys in her fourth grade class (much to her chagrin). As for Saturn, in the 1st house it can also align with an individual who is generally solemn and private, with a knack for planning. These are traits that I would ascribe to Latifah as well. Latifah has managed to keep facets of personal life private, developing a bit of a reputation for doing so. Often times, the public is not aware of any significant events in her life until she announces them. This also aligns symbolically with Venus’ aversion to the Ascendant itself, as the former lies in the 12th house. As for her skill in planning : early on in her rap career, she served as the manager to acts like Naughty by Nature and even Outkast via her once-record label Flava Unit Entertainment. She has since developed it into a far larger hybrid entity.
Now I’d like to highlight some of the rulers of the Ascendant here. In particular the Ascendant is in the decan of the Moon and the bounds of Mercury. Beginning with the decan, we will be drawing on Dr. Ali A. Olomi’s translation of Persian astrologer Abu Ma’shar’s interpretation.
“Those born under this decan will be delicate in their bones, refined in their features, luminous in eyes, and fair in form and speech. They will be clever in mind, charming in words, their presence will be like a light. […]”
As we can see, this is another indication of Taurus aligning with an individual who is pleasant to others. A rather interesting connection to draw is in the name Latifah – it is an Arabic name that can mean gentle, kind, sensitive, or graceful. When she was a child, her cousin Sharonda showed her a book of Arabic names, and Dana came across the name Latifah, cleaving to immediately because she felt that she embodied each of those qualities. Indeed, these all fit the disposition of Dana Owens well, as do the other character traits ascribed to those born under the Moon decan of Taurus. However, we can find overlapping testimony towards indications of friendliness in the mercurial bounds of the Ascendant. Drawing on Dr. Olomi’s translation of Persian astrologer al-Junawadi’s interpretation of these bounds.
“When the Ascendant is in the bound of Mercury, the individual shall be intelligent, clever, and eloquent. It gives indications for those skilled in [..] writing […] they will be charming, friendly, and well-liked by all classes.”
Such indications align with Taurus being a domicile of Venus, which is a planet with an essential nature that aligns with the parts of life that we as humans consider to be good – sweetness, music, pleasures, etc. Venus’ essential nature is to unify and harmonize ; Taurus distills this essential nature through its earthiness and fixity, mixing this with the influence that it receives from the Moon as its place of exaltation. When you combine those qualities in the part of the nativity that is associated with character, you get someone who is effortlessly charismatic, charming, sensitive, beautiful, and musically-inclined. It also indicates a powerful connection to one’s family. Queen Latifah frequently speaks about the many ways in which her parents encouraged her to pursue whatever interests that she’d develop in life. They laid a solid foundation for her that empowered her. Both were musicians, with her mother playing the flute and her father playing percussion, and the two often played various kinds of music around a young Dana. Her father exclusively played jazz music around her, which instilled a deep love of the genre within Latifah. Several of her songs possessed elements that speak to that love, one such example being her most Grammy Award winning song U.N.I.T.Y. The aforementioned Trav’lin Light is also a jazz album.
Latifah was also very close with her older brother Lancelot, who she affectionately refers to as Winki. When Lancelot tragically lost his life in a motorcycle accident in 1992, Latifah was rocked to her core to the point that she began to spiral. Not only did she become severely depressed, but she began to turn to regularly imbibe alcohol and took up smoking – both to the point of eventual addiction. Now, we can see the intersection of a few factors in the nativity right here.
– Cancer is the 3rd house of the nativity, which indicates siblings. The first triplicity lord of the 3rd house represents the older sibling – here, that would be Venus in Aries in the 12th house.
– Venus in Aries is Venus in its exile, attaching elements of difficulty and contrariness to how it fulfills its essential nature. It is in its own bounds, which eases that to a degree. Venus is also in a difficult position, as its qualities are not supported in fiery Aries, nor in close proximity to the Sun – certainly not helped by its location in the cadent and unfavorable 12th house.
– It also governs Taurus and Libra , the 1st and 6th houses respectively. While it makes an opposition to the latter, it is averse to the former. That would indicate some kind of difficulty in being able to govern the topics of the 1st house, rooted in a lack of connection. Both malefics are governed by this Venus but lack a sign-based witness from it, which removes support for both in the fulfillment of their essential natures.
– Mars in Taurus is Mars in its exile, bringing difficulties to its fulfillment of its nature. It exchanges bounds with Mercury, which does witness it and can more directly influence how Mars brings its significations about. In terms of location, it is of mixed quality. it doesn’t align with the sect of the nativity and is agitated in the upper hemisphere, also receiving some corruption by way of proximity to Saturn. Being in Taurus does limit the disruption that it can bring to a degree, however.
– It governs Aries and Scorpio, the 12th and 7th houses respectively. It cannot witness the former, and makes an sign-based opposition to the latter. The 7th house also contains both Jupiter and the Lot of Siblings, which Mars actually makes degree-based oppositions to. Furthermore, the Lot of Siblings’ dodecatemoria falls in Taurus, copresent with Mars, Saturn, and the Ascendant itself.
– The dodecatemoria of the ASC falls in Libra. The Lot of Burden also falls in Libra, with its dodecatemoria falling in Aries.
In particular, I list all of this because they emphasize the influence that Latifah’s brother had upon her. Mars and Venus govern one another by sign, but are unable to witness one another and so do not offer any significant support that an aspect between them would otherwise provide. The connection between them does not become evident until you look at their dodecatemoria, which both fall in Leo, the 4th house of the nativity. It is through this that the two share some form of sympathy – setting the themes in motion around their relationship. In particular, Latifah treasures a scar on her forehead that she received in part due to an injury that she sustained when playing with Lancelot as a child. The two also shared a love of motorcycles, with Latifah gifting him the very same motorcycle that he would tragically lose his life riding. This accident would occur in the midst of a series of notable configurations via timing techniques. We’ll highlight three, then tie them back to Latifah’s character.
– Latifah was in a Mercury fardar period, with Saturn serving as its helper. Mercury is in exile and exchanging bounds with Mars while also being under the malefic’s decan. It also happens to be under the beams.
– She was in a Pisces year via ASC profection, setting Jupiter in Scorpio as the ruler of the sign and the Sun and Mercury in Pisces as the lords of the year. The Sun is also in the bounds and decan of Mars, while Jupiter is being simultaneously opposed by both malefics land retrograde on top of that.
– April of 1992 was an Aries month via profection, with both Mars and Venus taking on rulership for that month. Mars also served as the nawbahra, putting it in the role of helper of the month.
– In the same month, the profected ASC in Pisces is moving through the bounds of Mercury. It is also opposing Latifah’s natal South Node throughout the month.
The various themes of the chronocrators focused into the month of April to culminate in the nature of the event that we find ourselves talking about right now. However I want to focus on how it impacted Latifah herself. She has gone on record saying that it rocked her world, making her feel as if she had lost all of the strength in her body at once. Notable because Mars being in the 1st house aligned with Latifah’s love of athletic activities, which was strongly supported by her brother and father from childhood. With the passing of her brother, that Mars in the 1st house began to coincide with Latifah turning to cigarettes, marijuana, and most notably alcohol, in order to cope with the loss of Lancelot. Mars itself can signify those who indulge in wine, but specifically when overlapping with Venus in the 12th house and an opposition to Jupiter. These attempts to cope would develop into substance abuse and addiction. Remember that both Mars and Saturn also opposed Jupiter, which was the lord of the year.
Another focus of Latifah during her time of grievance was her music. She poured much of her energy into her next release + third album Black Reign, which contained the aforementioned hit U.N.I.T.Y and was her most critically acclaimed album. That album also contained a track, Winki’s Theme, that served as a tribute to Lancelot.
Finally, let us finish this Ascendant analysis by looking at its dodecatemoria, which falls in Libra. Once again, we draw from Dr. Olomi’s translation – this time, of Abu Ma’shar’s interpretation of the Ascendant’s dodecatemoria of Libra that lies in the Kitāb mawālīd.
“Those born under this star will have a fair voice and a pleasant face. They will have a long nose. Many will have a mark on their hip. They enjoy gossip and will be friendly in demeanor. […] They will be a lover of beauty and justice. […] They enjoy dancing and music. […] They excel at strategem.”
We see repeating testimony that aligns with Venus’ essential nature throughout the Ascendant and its dodecatemoria, both located in signs that are governed by the lesser benefic. Libra serving as the exaltation of Saturn displays those qualities clearly in the statement of a love for justice, as well as another testimony to the skill in strategy and planning (something that is also supported by Mars’ own association).
And that’s all she wrote, folks. If you took the time to read this, I appreciate you. For the next part of the analysis, we will delve even deeper into Latifah’s character by using the condition of the soul technique. If you enjoyed this, please feel free to support me by subscribing, donating, or hitting me with a follow. Thank you so much.
The Eccentric Directive 
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