Napoléon Bonaparte (August 15, 1769 – May 5, 1821)

Today in history, Napoléon escaped from exile on Elba in 1815. We think we know all about the man, but do we really?

I cannot confirm the accuracy of his birth time, 11:00 am being the consensus. However, the Moon being opposite to his Mercury/Saturn/Midheaven conjunction could be an accurate reflection of his character.

Moon in Capricorn

Serious and responsible, you try to carry the world upon your shoulders, and rarely let others know that you need help and support. You deny or ignore your own emotional needs and feel that others will not accept you if your appear “weak”. You are especially uncomfortable with emotional dependency, and will tell yourself and others not to be a “baby”. You need to accept that no one is self-sufficient all the time, and to be gentler with your emotional needs and wants. To others, you may appear to be rather hard-nosed and tough, with a businesslike attitude toward their personal concerns and feelings. Your feelings and loyalties run deep, but you often don’t let people know how much you care. You also need to learn how to relax, enjoy yourself, and play sometimes.

Moon in 3rd House

You often make decisions solely for emotional or personal reasons, because something “feels right” or because you’ve always done it a certain way and you are uncomfortable changing it. Even when you think you’re being rational, your prejudices, intuition, and feelings influence your thoughts a great deal. You are comfortable talking about feelings and personal subjects, and sharing confidences, which enables others to share their own inner feelings with you as well. You have good psychological insight into others.

Moon Opposition Saturn

You often feel that you must do something or be something other than what you are in order to receive approval and acceptance from others. You are very sensitive to criticism and easily feel left out or neglected, and though you may appear cool and distant, you actually care very much about being included. Because you are so sensitive, it may seem easier for you to withdraw into a shell rather than risk the emotional bumps and bruises that can occur when you let others really know you in an intimate, personal way. Your reserve and caution make establishing a close emotional rapport with others difficult for you, and you become very attached to the few people that you consider “real friends”. You can gain inner security and strength through periods of solitude if you view them as times to nourish yourself and develop your own interests, rather than as times of loneliness.

Conclusion

The idea that a person takes their own inner battle and projects it onto the rest of world, in other words, objectifying the conflict, seems to apply here. Napoléon conquered the world so that he could maintain control of his own doubts and fears. He became Emperor of himself.

Somewhat hypocritically, the defeated Napoleon wrote one last letter to Josephine, in which he said, “Never forget him who has never forgotten you and will never forget you.” (Sparknotes)