J.M. Barrie (May 9, 1860 – June 19, 1937)

I suppose it’s cheeky to associated the subtitle of his greatest play, “Peter Pan” with the playwright, himself, but somehow just looking at his portrait, above, the child is still in there.

Having never looked at his birth chart before, I missed an important aspect: the Moon is in opposition to Venus which is conjunct his Cancer Ascendant. That would explain Peter’s fascination for Wendy in the play. It’s love, but not romantic love: it’s essentially the search for a missing mother. Barrie’s a lost boy.

There are three inconjuncts.

Moon Inconjunct Uranus

Your relationship with your mother may be rather unstable. She may be very involved in her own interests, which prevent her from being as close to you as she would be otherwise. She may be an unconventional person, a real free spirit. The problem is that your feelings about her are mixed, both loving and unloving. You may secretly resent her. Probably you don’t feel that you can express this consciously, but it could come out when you are angry or upset. Certainly this will result in not wanting to form close relationships with other people, especially women. And the people you do choose as close friends are likely to be exciting and different from anyone you have known in the past. However, they may also be rather upsetting.

Planets in Youth (page 131) by Robert Hand (1977)

Mars Inconjunct Saturn

This can be a difficult aspect because it signifies a conflict between your sense of responsibility and your desire to fulfill your own needs and do what you want. This leads to a struggle within you that may keep you from acting decisively. Instead of deciding what you will do, you feel caught between these two forces, wondering whether you have the right to do what you want. You may feel that others are trying to frustrate you, but it is only your own indecisiveness that is causing the trouble. Sometimes this conflict makes you very irritable and resentful about nothing in particular. Then, when someone happens to act in a way that is absolutely annoying, you focus all your built-up anger on that person.

Ibid (pages 230-231)

Jupiter Inconjunct Midheaven

This aspect can mean that you have mixed feelings towards adults and persons in authority over you. Although you know that they have your best interests at heart and that they want you to succeed at their own objectives, it often seems as if their demands are keeping you from doing what you want. When you want to go off and have fun, for example, you are told to finish your work first. At times you want to break free of this restricting influence and go off by yourself.

Ibid (page 278)

So, my instincts are correct: he is a lost boy, but not just from his mother but also his father. Wendy and Captain Hook help Peter Pan to find a balance between their parental influences. Is the play biographical? How could it not be?

Peter Pan Premiere (December 27, 1904)

On this day in 1904, Scottish novelist and playwright Sir J.M. Barrie’s play Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up premieres at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London.

The first thing I noticed about this chart is that there are no inconjuncts, so no hidden agendas. The oppositions form a six-pointed star. Perhaps that’s why the story has been so long-lasting in the public’s imagination.

This chart represents Barrie’s greatest hit:

Do you see how Barrie’s struggles get resolved in the premiere of his play? There are no accidents.