Lunar Eclipse in Pisces: Coluche & The Political Spectacle
I’ll stop talking about politics when politicians stop making us laugh.
Michel Colucci, famously known as Coluche, has been dead for almost as long as he lived, and the legacy that he leaves behind is an unexpected one.
The French comedian and actor, who rose to fame in the 1960s, did not lead an easy life. His father died when he was very young, leaving his mother to raise two children on her own. He grew up poor and dropped out of school at the age of 14, drifting between various jobs until he joined the army at age 20. Throughout his life and career, he faced various addictions that collided with his professional goals and his relationships on more than one occasion. He broke a world speed record on a motorcycle at one point, and even ran for president, just to prove a point to the French political elite. His sudden death in 1986 was (and still is) rumored by some to be premeditated, for political reasons.1
Despite all of this, or perhaps because of it, Coluche remains a beloved figure in France to this day, with murals and statues commemorating his life and celebrations often thrown on the anniversary of his death. Plus, the charity organization he founded just a year before his death has not only continued to operate, but has grown exponentially over the last 4 decades. So why is he so beloved? And what does Jupiter have to do with it?
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Coluche’s natal chart (Rodden rating: A) has Taurus rising at 24 degrees, the sun at 5 degrees Scorpio, and the moon at 25 degrees Pisces—the same degree as the lunar eclipse occurring tonight. His chart ruler, Venus, sits at 7 degrees Sagittarius. Opposing Coluche’s natal moon is Jupiter, at 19 degrees Virgo, in his 5th whole sign house. And while this placement is not particularly active in Coluche’s nativity, it becomes incredibly significant in terms of his legacy, which I will get to in a minute.
Coluche’s natal chart. Rodden Rating: A
Another configuration of note in Coluche’s chart is the Mars-Mercury conjunction at 10 degrees Scorpio, forming an exact trine to retrograde Saturn at 10 degrees Cancer. Coluche rose to fame as one of the first “politically incorrect” comedians—he was not afraid to take shots at any group of people in his routines2, and was one of the first people to regularly speak profanities on nationally broadcast television in France. This particular style of humor may not seem all that shocking to a modern audience, but six decades ago, it was breaking new ground, and his style had much more shock value back then than it would if Coluche arrived on the scene today.
However, where Coluche really focused the majority of his ridicule was the ruling class, namely politicians. The sharp, cutting, and even vulgar nature of that Mercury-Mars conjunction is supported by the trine to detriment Saturn: Coluche poked fun at obvious holes in the structure of politics and society, and he wasn’t afraid to hurt anyone’s feelings in the process, it seems.
He also was decidedly average, despite his out-of-the-box comedy persona. He embodied some combination of a jester, an outlaw, and an everyman. Coluche was one of the masses, a comedian for the people, and he was not going to let you forget that, even as he entertained you. One of the more famous quotes attributed to Coluche is “Je ne suis pas nouveau riche; je suis un ancien pauvre,” which translates to “I’m not new rich; I’m old poor.”
Coluche, through his continuous mockery of the political class, intended to point out its “disconnected and ruthless” nature, which sunk into the hearts of the French public as he delivered his scathing critiques with painfully relatable punch lines. He was quick to point out that many of the social issues facing France at the time were easily solvable by the government, which was usually met with condescension and hand-waving by those whose inaction he made a mockery of.3
Dressed like a clown and often treated like one, Coluche proved himself to be correct in assuming that at least some social issues had simple solutions, when in the course of one radio broadcast in September of 1985, he set in motion a legacy of his own. In a now-famous speech, Coluche begins with “J’ai une petite idée comme ça…” which means, “I have a little idea…”
That “little idea” was a solution to widespread hunger and food waste: why can’t the restaurants of France work together to distribute their unsold food to those in need? Thus, Restaurants Du Coeur was born, and a mere three months later would deliver their first free meals to folks in need.
No one knew Coluche would be dead just a year after founding Restos du Coeur, but what’s even more surprising is how the foundation has grown to an impressive scale over the last several decades and now boasts tens of thousands of volunteers every year. Remember, Coluche’s natal moon is in Pisces, in his 11th house. Thinking of creative ways to meet the material needs of the people was baked into his nativity, but with that moon ruled by a detriment Jupiter in Virgo, it follows that his creative ideas for solving problems would be waved away by those who hold actual power to enact said ideas.
Planets in detriment or fall always have to do things the unconventional way, and they often have to do them without much assistance, at first. Coluche himself was just one man, and though he had ideas about how to solve the problems he saw affecting his fellow humans, he couldn’t solve them on his own. In the case of the twin issues of hunger and food waste, Coluche’s one “little idea” blossomed into a massive force for good—mostly without his involvement.
In 2004, a Swiss astronomer named Michel Ory discovered an asteroid and decided to name it after Coluche (170906). Now, if you’re an astrologer, this should be intriguing news to you, because astrologers know that asteroids can be plugged into charts to illuminate myths and themes we perhaps wouldn’t be made aware of elsewise. So naturally, I had to plug this asteroid into Coluche’s natal chart to see where it landed, and it landed at 7 degrees Aquarius, in his 10th house.
How interesting, I thought, that his namesake asteroid would fall in the tenth house of legacy and public reputation. Seems a tad literal—I love it when astrology is literal. But here’s where it gets really juicy: on the day of Coluche’s famous radio speech, where the seed was planted for Restos du Coeur, these were his transits:
The little green guys on the outside of the circle are the transits
Notice anything interesting? Transit Jupiter was at exactly 7 degrees Aquarius, conjunct Coluche’s namesake asteroid in his natal chart. But where it gets even more wild is that transiting asteroid Coluche was also conjunct his natal Jupiter. So here we have an asteroid that is clearly an indication of the legacy attached to Coluche’s name, and on the day when he laid the foundation for his most impactful legacy to date, we have these huge Jupiter activations. Coluche was also 40 years old on this day, which would place him in a 5th house profection year, further activating his natal Jupiter.
Tonight’s lunar eclipse at 25 degrees Pisces is occurring only 3 degrees away from Neptune in Pisces, and is ruled by Jupiter in the sign of its detriment, Gemini. Neptune may rule over illusions, but Jupiter ultimately decides what’s right and what’s wrong4—and one way Jupiter communicates these rules is via the political spectacle.
Coluche is remembered fondly, even as a controversial figure in French culture and history, because he brought attention to what he saw was wrong about the society he lived in, and he did it in a way that simultaneously endeared him to the working masses and made him a target for the political elite. But Coluche was not necessarily a gleaming representation of Jupiter’s gregariousness and charm, even at his most popular in life; his legacy is also one of abuse and death.
As mentioned previously, Coluche experienced addictions to both alcohol and cocaine during his brief lifetime, which resulted in him getting kicked out of more than one comedy troupe and eventually disintegrating his marriage to his wife, with whom he had two sons. When he ran for president in 1980, to make an example of the ruthlessness he saw in the parties vying for candidacy, the end result was not only death threats for Coluche himself, but the actual murder of his theatrical manager. On an even darker note, Coluche once gifted a .22 rifle to his friend Patrick Dewaere that Patrick ultimately used to take his own life after Coluche convinced Patrick’s wife to run away with him.
Yikes.
So, here we hold the micro and the macro of Jupiter: Coluche being a man who exhibited great complexity in terms of his ability to bring both good and harm to others, and the greater political spectacle that Coluche himself was a vicious critic of, the stage upon which “right” and “wrong” are decided for the collective.
Jupiter experiences a reduced amount of dignity in Virgo and Gemini, so it’s natural during the greater benefic’s transits through those signs that the political spectacle may be even more misleading or confusing than ever. In our current epoch, under late-stage capitalism, it seems the concepts of “right” and “wrong” have dissolved (thanks, Neptune) to the point where it no longer matters if something is right or wrong, it only matters who profits from it. Every election is a matter of selecting the least harmful candidate, rather than the most helpful one. We are no longer seeking solutions, but rather trying to avoid further catastrophes.
What would Coluche think of our hyper-consumerist society today? How much would he mock the proceedings of global and national politics, reducing painstakingly-researched political image campaigns to rubble with one or two cutting jokes? And what role can humor play in critiquing our current world as we simultaneously create a new world?
Laughter is a Venusian action, but it requires Jovian vision to make people laugh at the horrors—and seek solutions at the same time. It takes a bit of Mercurial absurdity—which you can access through Jupiter in Gemini—to find a punch line amongst the ruins, and even more trickster energy to subvert the horrors in a way that feels entertaining, not threatening, to those who have less and less to lose. Perhaps it’s about finding cleverer and cleverer ways to communicate to the people the messages are intended to critique and to the people they’re meant to inspire to action, at the same time. An inside joke can be a powerful political weapon.
