Real Time with Bill Maher was playing in the background while I was getting ready for work this evening and he was interviewing actor and author Matthew McConaughey about his new book;  “Greenlights”. In the clip I happened to see Maher seemed surprised that Matthew McConaughey was able to reinvent himself and even more shocked that McConaughey is a “deep guy”. Personally, I never thought of McConaughey as a Rom Com actor (not that anything is wrong with that); and I did not realize he had been typecast. Maher remarked “You did something in your career that is very rare you changed the perception of yourself. That is the hardest thing to do in show business”.

Matthew McConaughey was born with the Sun in Scorpio; these are the Kings and Queens of reinvention. They totally die and like the phoenix and they rise from the ashes of a former life. The Archetype for Scorpio when not working out of the shadow is the Magician; they are indeed the alchemists of the zodiac. So it was no surprise to me that he was able to transform his career from an actor that starred in movies like The Wedding Planner (one of my faves) to films like The Paper Boy and Mud. Truth be told I never saw him as a light person, but I read energy not public personas.

Taking pieces from various articles I found in a Google search you can see how his Natal Chart matches up with his autobiographical information

McConaughey writes that he was dominated by his Father in his youth; we can see he has Saturn Retrograde opposite his Natal Sun. He also has Aquarius on the Midheaven which can show an erratic, cold and detached Father figure and Chiron lays opposite Uranus (the ruler of the 10th house). He has some strong Karmic paternal inheritance he is working out in this lifetime.

Saturn/Sun alone in hard aspect is not the easiest aspect to live out. The Fathers influence is somehow suppressive to the child. Sometimes this can indicate a cold relationship with the Father, other times the Father is not around, sometimes he is abusive and sometimes the child inherits the Fathers melancholic nature and/or perfectionism. Saturn retrograde can also show wounds surrounding the Father.  

Usually the child develops an internal belief that he or she is not good enough they may not be conscious of this but it steams from the Father figure. Not knowing much about McConaughey I googled his name and “perfectionism” and a slew of articles appeared. That is what happens when the Sun aspects Saturn (hard aspect only) or Saturn is retrograde all of that ridged behavior of the Father is internalized resulting in a person that never feels good enough. I do want to add that these people are often quite successful because they are always trying to prove they are indeed good enough; they try to combat an inner feeling of unworthiness.

Whitney Houston, Suri Cruise and Oprah Winfrey also have Sun/Saturn hard aspects for frame of reference

As always we have to consider the entire chart

McConaughey writes that his Father was not around the day he was born; apparently, he had some doubts Matthew was his. He also notes his upbringing was painful and abusive although his parents loved one another.

McConaughey has Natal Pluto in the 4th house one manifestation of this is the abusive early home life. This suggests the native has family secrets, sometimes the toxicity is not outright and Pluto in the 4th can give a feeling of walking on egg shells. The child may have to intuit the environment because a lot is not spoken, it is the undercurrent that is dark. That is not the case with McConaughey as the tales of abuse he tells between both parents were front and center.

McConaughey tells the story of his Mother breaking his Fathers nose during a fight only to have sex on the kitchen floor right after, he also reveals his Father broke his Mothers finger four times.  He goes on to tell the New York Times that despite the abusive (my word choice) relationship between his parents “The love was real. The passion was real”

Matthew has Sun sextile Moon; the Sun forming a sextile to the Moon can suggest that something indeed was picked up in his childhood that allowed for him to integrate his masculine and feminine energy; he has an inner cohesion. Often when we see Sun sextile Moon it can suggest parents that were loving with one another or worked well together but clearly this was not the case. This is why one aspect astrology does not paint an entire picture. We must always consider the entire chart.

McConaughey notes that he once didn’t speak to his Mother for 8 years because she went on a tabloid show when he first became famous giving tours of his childhood home and leaking private conversations to the press.

With Aquarius being on the Midheaven indicating a Father that is likely detached, cold and often erratic that puts Leo on the fourth house cusp. The 4th house has to do with the Mother with the Sun being the ruling planet we are brought back to his Sun opposite Saturn this can really reflect some distance between the Mother figure and the child again echoing similar sentiments we see with the Father; an early home life that is harsh, one that does not provide a feeling of safety, a somehow repressed and authoritative early upbringing.

Luckily he seems to be an evolved soul that can transmute and transcend his early life with the Sun placed in Scorpio just like the phoenix he was born to rise above.

For those that are into Autobiographies Greenlights certainly looks like an interesting read click below to purchase:

https://www.amazon.com/Greenlights-Matthew-McConaughey/dp/0593139135