If you enjoyed reading the first instalment, of the four-part Astrology Enthusiasts’ Astro-Guide to the popular Netflix Documentary Series ‘Beckham’, then grab your seats for ‘Episode Two’ of the guide, which should keep you riveted along with the astrology that fascinates once again.
Spoiler Alert: If you are still wanting to watch the series in your own time without using our Astro-Guide, and don’t want to know what is revealed, or, if you haven’t yet and still wish to read our guide to ‘Episode One’, then we suggest you stop reading now! ‘Episode One’s’ Astro-Guide to ‘Beckham’ can be found on the Astrology South Africa Blog, under the same Author.
“Beckham’s” second episode begins with the title “Seeing Red”. We know by now from the previous episode, that the play on the word ‘red’ here is alluding to the Red Card Beckham was sent off with during the crucial Argentina match in the 1998 World Cup; as well as alluding to the subsequent backlash of anger, aggression, and resentment towards Beckham from the English public and football fans. The hate mail – the death threats. ‘Red’ is the colour of Manchester United, the football club David Beckham originated from; and which he and his family are fanatical about. The nickname for the Manchester United Club, is the “Red Devils”, including their anthropomorphic Mascot. ‘Red’ is the colour, (with black), of the Rossoneri, which Beckham joined in 2009. Ten points if you know which football club that is, but we will focus on the astrology for now.
In keeping with the ‘rosso’ theme, when we hear the phrase ‘seeing red’ we tend to think of a bull and a Matador, and even though a bull is technically colour-blind, the bull becomes irate by the ‘red’ Muleta being waved in front of him. Astrologically, Taurus is represented by the bull, and David Beckham has his natal Sun, Mercury, and Ascendant in Taurus.
His natal Pisces Mars had progressed into Aries by 30 June 1998. Mars is seen visually from Earth as the ‘red’ planet, and astrologically Mars is in its prime in Aries. More dynamically, in his natal chart, we note a Cardinal T-Square, between Jupiter in Aries opposing Pluto in Libra, squaring Saturn in Cancer. A Cardinal T-Square can see someone “hurling themselves into dangerous situations without need or hesitation” [~Reda Wigle]. The progressed chart for the day of that match had the Cardinal T-Square plus the progressed Mars into Aries adding to the fuel. Beckham had impulsively and impetuously pushed back against the on-field ‘bully’, and paid the consequences for it. In David’s natal chart the sign of Aries is intercepted in the 12th house, which according to astrology42, “could see affairs of the house dealt with in aggression, frustration and impatience – usually through a previous inability to assert yourself, or through long periods of inaction and daydreaming”, and natal Mercury in the 12th house is usually prone to daydreaming.
Diego Simeone still believes David Beckham should not have received the Red Card for flicking his leg out at him, and goes on to admit he was putting on a big show of pretense, to dramatize the fake injury which resulted in Beckham being immediately sent off. The oppressive situation of public backlash towards Beckham that unfolded thereafter, and which he initially tried to escape by flying to the U.S. to be with Victoria, is consequent of a progressed Mars in the 12th House. Transit Pluto was by then in a separating Conjunction to natal Neptune by a three degree orb, i.e. conjunct his Neptune = Sun/Saturn midpoint. “Transit Pluto conjunct natal Neptune brings internal transformation, changes in ideals, and a different perspective on the world.” [~Corinne Lane]. David shares that this incident “Changed my life.” He “wished there was a pill that you could take that could erase certain memories”. Interestingly, Reinhold Ebertin lists one of the keywords for the Pluto Conjunct Neptune transit as “self-torture”, [‘Transits’, AFA, 1971].
Despite the title of the episode, it actually kicks off inside their kitchen around a discussion about Beckham’s perfectionism. He teases his wife Victoria about her not appreciating him for the cleaning he does. Beckham confesses he hates things being untidy when he comes down in the morning, so he usually clears away, and trims candle wicks at night before going to bed. Hardly surprising to expect this from someone who has his 6th House in Virgo, attention to detail and service to others. Hardly surprising either with a 6th House in Virgo, that stress can manifest physically with stomach issues. He therefore comments on his pre-wedding jitters, when asked on camera before the wedding if he is feeling nervous, that he has “Just been on the toilet about 50 times.” It was also recorded by Sky Sports that David was having stomach problems before his 26 April 2006 match with Real Madrid vs Malaga, “”My stomach’s not good,” Beckham opined.”
That Beckham flew out to be with Victoria after the Argentinian game is no surprise then. They were expecting their first baby, yet he also needed her comfort, solace, and support, and their karmic South Node/Venus synastry was a safe-haven beacon to home in on. Victoria talks about how the Spice Girls could protect him, put “cotton-wool” around him. David talks about how he was “safe with her”. He felt he had let himself down, his team-mates, his country, his fans, even her. Despite Beckham feeling this way, they both seemed unaware of the furore that was erupting back home.
David returned home to the U.K. and faced the onslaught of public bullying on his own. As Sir Alex Ferguson put it, referring to the onslaught of the press in England and British media, “We get murdered.” David shared how he had never spoken before about what a huge impact the experience had on him, “Because I can’t. I find it hard to talk through what I went through because it was so extreme.” Here we see the Pisces 12th House being disconnected from the emotional self.
David Beckham’s friend and business partner, David Gardner, they grew up together, recalls how the public were physically abusive to Beckham when they went out together after the 1998 World Cup, glaring at him, spitting at him, barging into him, and what is interesting is how Gardner said: “He [Beckham] never reacted not once”. Couple of months following the World Cup we see David’s Mars had progressed by secondary progression from fiery Aries to watery Cancer; Saturn was transiting his 12th House.
David confessed he was a mess, and Victoria recalls, “He was broken. He was absolutely broken. He was in pieces.” The ensuing interviews in the episode set the back-drop of the horrific public contempt David had to endure, and yet also the island of protection created by Sir Alex Ferguson around his team, which allowed David a modicum of space to breathe and focus on his football once more. In more ways than one, he was like a father-figure to Beckham, saying get yourself together and do what you do. That is what David did. “That was the only thing that I could control. Once I was on the pitch….”
Amidst the bullets and death threats sent to him in letters, and effigies of Beckham being hung publicly by noose, necessitating that the Police became involved, David’s parents also had to cope with the onslaught. It is something David has never forgiven himself for – the negative attention it brought upon himself and his family. “It’s only now that I am 47 years old…. It’s now that I beat myself up about it. (Still?) Yeah.” [2022]. Perhaps too evidence of a Chiron in Aries, the ‘Wound of Self’, having to overcome a challenged sense of worth.
As Rio Ferdinand puts it: “In that time, mental health wasn’t a thing. Whereas now the first thing that gets mentioned, “How’s your mental health? Have you spoken to anyone? Whereas David would have been alone.” David’s stoic signatures in his chart, with earth signs grounding him, allowed him to persevere. Remarkably, Asteroid 541132 Leleakuhonua (15 Pisces 33’21”) is within an arc minute exact on David’s Mars (15 Pisces 32’19”), and denotes: “Thanks to practical cognitive skills, it has the ability to take steps forward, to recover from traumatic situations, through emotional strength oriented in the direction of life.”
David Gardner tells us: “…[David] used to drive on the M6. It wasn’t, like, five minutes. It’s like you know three hours. Just driving in his car, nowhere to go. He’d get to a certain place and he’d drive back. He didn’t open up. He just kept everything inside.” Natal Chiron in the 12th House, points to someone who has difficulty opening up to others, and being extremely private; the wound would be deep in the psyche as repressed pain and trauma. Furthermore, with David’s Moon in Capricorn at the 29th degree, (what Ray Grasse would call David’s most elevated planet in the chart), by applying Conjunction to the Midheaven or MC; Capricorn Moons are known to appear calm and composed from the outside. Further still, his natal Saturn is in Cancer in the 3rd house, an indication of being cautious and reserved, cautious about revealing vulnerabilities, and emotional restraint, again having difficulties expressing their emotions.
Perhaps in looking at natal Chiron in the 12th House, and natal Sun in the 12th, we explore David’s relationship with his father. Ted Beckham, who every week gave his son Guinness and a raw egg to bulk him up, and obtained 1,400 Club Game recordings of David playing football as a child, thought “if I told him how good he was, then he’s got nothing to work at”, when asked if he thought he was too tough on David. Beckham was able to disclose on camera: “I was more scared when he was there, because I knew if I put a foot wrong he’d tell me. And he’d always tell me. Always.” […] “I would hear my Mum turn around to my Dad and say “Stop talking to him the way you’re talking to him. Stop shouting at him. Stop telling him off. He did well today. And my Dad would always be like, He did alright.” Beckham’s mother, Sandra, said: “I used to think he [his father] was too strict. I used to say, “He’s only young. Just leave him. Let him be happy.” With his natal Sun in the 12th House there is evidence of detachment from his father, which Beckham is not entirely subtle in pointing out, alluding to a lack of understanding and communication between them, and perhaps having the challenge of asserting his own identity in the face of his father’s demands and expectations. Then David became a father himself.
On 4 March 1999, Brooklyn Joseph Beckham was born to Victoria and David in London, in the wake of the 1998 World Cup aftermath. David explains the fear that gripped him that someone was going to steal his son, that he could not sleep as a result, as they were getting kidnapping and death threats. “The moment he came out, I all of a sudden thought, “How am I going to protect him? What am I going to do to protect him.” To exacerbate the problem, the Manchester Paparazzi were hounding and following them to sneak photographs of them and their children. David had to play football knowing this was all going on.
To boot, every time David played, a 75,000 strong crowd would sing abuse and obscenities aimed at him and his wife, yet David claims every time he looked up to see Victoria in the stand, her being there spurred him on to play better football, and the more attention he received, the better he played. It was a matter of “sink or swim”, and he chose the latter.
Next that came into view for Beckham was winning the Premier League with Manchester United at Old Trafford against Tottenham (16 May 1999), then the FA Cup Final (22 May 1999), where Manchester United beat Newcastle United at Wembley, and finally the treble with the Champions League Final (26 May 1999), where Manchester United beat Bayern Munich in Barcelona.
As David said: “Winning the League, yeah it was great, but winning the FA Cup? That’s a whole different thing.”
They set their sights on the 1999 UEFA Champions League Cup to attain a treble win, writing themselves into the history books, and according to Beckham’s father, “That year made my son grow up to be a man.” That year (1999), for those match dates in May, we note Transit Pluto was separating by a mere degree from a Trine aspect to David’s natal Jupiter, dramatically increasing his power and influence at this time.
David’s natal Jupiter is also conjunct (within an zero degree orb) with Asteroid 103 Hera. Astrologically, Hera can represent “…marriage and childbirth; […].” [~Alex Miller Asteroids]. On 4 July 1999, David Robert Joseph Beckham (later OBE) married Victoria Caroline Adams at Luttrellstown Castle near Dublin, Ireland. (They renewed their Vows on 4 April 2004.) Gary Neville said the Wedding was a spectacle! We know these two love-birds share karmic synastry, with his Venus, and her Lunar South Node, but then what else is set-up in his chart to support working out this soul contract between the two of them?
We note Natal Jupiter Trine Neptune Retrograde in 7th House. “You are a romantic with magnetic attractiveness that gives you a glamorous aura.” [~Jamie Partridge, Astrology King].
Natal Sun applying by conjunction to Asteroid 330836 Orius by a degree orb. “Clarity on the idea that a relationship does not make you successful, nor does success make one relationship-worthy.” [~Zane Stein – Phil Sedgwick]
Significantly, and most notably perhaps about this theme of partnership, union, and marriage in David’s chart is his Yod, or ‘Finger Of God’ aspect pattern, generally known to be a rare configuration. Two Bi-directional Quincunxs with a Sextile, between three planets forming an isosceles triangle, with a sharp, ‘pointing’ apex. What is a Bi-directional Quincunx, and what is a mono-directional Quincunx? Mono means when both planets are direct or retrograde, bi-directional means when one is direct and the other is retrograde. [~Zsuzsana Griga]. Other Astrologers, such as Kevin Burk, would argue that the speed of the apex planet needs to be the fastest moving planet between the three for the configuration to be considered “a true Yod”.
The harmonious synergetic energy, which has immense potential, is formed at the base of the triangle, which pushes all this energy through the tension of the quincunxs towards the apex, the focal point, ‘the mission’, because people with Yods in their charts have come here with a specific purpose. A Yod means you have a task or specific mission to learn in relationships, normally a bit of a challenge to achieve, and usually always feels fated. Evolutionary Astrologer Steven Forrest says a Yod is the closest thing in a natal chart to an accurate indicator of Fame.
In David Beckham’s chart he has Sun Quincunx Neptune Retrograde, and Saturn Quincunx Neptune Retrograde, with his Sun Sextile Saturn, and Neptune in Sagittarius as the midpoint planet, or apex of the Yod, which is specifically in Beckham’s 7th House, of partnerships, marriage, and business contracts. As David said: “I was married to ‘Posh Spice’, my life had become something different.”
In Victoria’s words, Sir Alex Ferguson “…thought I was a distraction and I was going to jeopardize David’s career.” Being at the apparent beck and call of Mrs Beckham proved to be difficult for Ferguson, who had been accustomed to being in control of his player’s life for so long.
For David, having been through one of the toughest times of his life, he felt he would never have got through it if he had not been with a Club such as Manchester United, but mostly he felt he would never have got through it if it wasn’t for her, his wife Victoria.
Episode Two ended here, and Episode Three that followed is titled “Golden Balls”.
If you enjoyed reading this second instalment of the four-part Astrology Enthusiasts’ Astro-Guide to the popular Netflix Documentary Series, ‘Beckham’, then you may look forward to reading the rest of the Astro-Guide that accompanies Episode Three and Episode Four of the series here on Astrology South Africa’s Blog, or by sending an email request or your comments to cigno.astro@gmail.com.
Written by Deborah-Anne Swanepoel – Cigno Astro ©
For Astrology South Africa
28 February 2024
[Image: Beckham’s name superimposed on Beckham’s Natal Chart in Black; The Astrology Enthusiasts’ Astro-Guide to the Netflix Documentary Series, ‘Part Two’, Cigno Astro Logo; Astrology SA Logo]
[Image Credit: Cigno Astro]
