Happy Friday the 13th, Swifties: How Taylor’s zodiac sign led to pop domination

Unabashed romantics, earnest water signs, those high on the fumes of heartbreaks and sworn Swifties rejoice; we’re looking at the stars behind the blunt bangs and breakup songs, the birth chart of the Anti-Hero herself, ladies and gentlemen, Taylor mothertruckin’ Swift. 

Tay Tay if you’re nasty.

Standing just shy of six feet, our lady of the breakup ballad and earnest confession is beloved by legions and feared by exes.

In honor of Swift’s 35th birthday and the end of her history-making, dollar-raking Eras tour, we bring you a look at her birth chart.

Read on, right on, “Red” forever.

Sun in Sagittarius 

Born unto us on December 13, 1989, Swift’s sun sign falls in the aces and arrows sign of Sagittarius.

Ruled by planet Jupiter, the fun-loving drunk uncle of the zodiac, Sagittarius energy is expansive, optimistic, adventurous and a little guileless. Sagittarians are seekers, always looking for new horizons, higher learning, spiritual transcendence, and — in the case of T. Swift — the first flush of new love. 

Swift’s resilience in the wake of relationship endings is emblematic of her Sagittarius Sun.

These folks can’t help but believe that good things are on their way and life is bound to get better. Swift herself acknowledges that arch in the song “Begin Again,” reportedly inspired by her relationship with Conor Kennedy. It is precisely that kind of blithe optimism that keeps her a perennial player in the game of love.

Cue Steve Earle’s “Fearless Heart.” 

Sagittarians seduce with their bon vivant approach to life, promising that a relationship with them will be akin to a storied road trip, complete with quirky pit stops, caramel nonfat lattes, a varied soundtrack, and a highly enviable vintage car.

Pack your bags, burn your hesitations — right?

Moon in Cancer 

Not so fast.

That freewheeling, easy-breezy high-road-taking is a bait-and-switch, folks. Beneath the surface and way back in the shadows lies Swift’s crustacean Cancer Moon.

In astrology, the Moon represents our emotional needs and how we go about getting them met; it relates to the nurturing we did or didn’t receive as children. It’s the soft underbelly, marshmallow center, pulpy mess, and primal heart of the human condition, and in the sign of Cancer, it is at its most acutely sensitive.

These people want an intense emotional connection and a sworn blood oath that you’ll never leave. So real is this fear of abandonment that those with Moon in Cancer are prone to adapting themselves to match the needs and preferences of their partners. 

Because the Moon rules Cancer, it is very much at home in this placement. It’s wearing a Snuggie and ready to passively-aggressively manipulate you into staying in for the night for the rest of your life. 

At its highest expression, Cancer energy is creative, caretaking, and deeply romantic. At their most indulgent, Cancer Moon natives tend toward masochistic nostalgia, endlessly idealizing or overanalyzing past love affairs.

Though their relationship lasted just three months and ended over 13 years ago, Taylor is still writing about Jake Gyllenhaal. Further evidence of Swift’s pangs for the past can be found in the song “Style,” where she rhapsodizes the aesthetic of her failed relationship with Harry Styles. The detritus of her doomed relationships with actor/collaborator Joe Alwyn and former flame and fellow fire sign Matt Healy of The 1975 are strewn about her latest album, “The Tortured Poet’s Department.”

The modality of Cancer is to return and return again. Yet, Swift has capitalized on this somewhat pained placement by channeling it into music that serves not only as a balm for her but as sonic medicine for the masses. No one, and I mean no one maximizes/monetizes the grist mill of the human experience quite like Swift. 

Mars in Scorpio

Mars is the planet of war, and within the birth chart, it governs our approach to sex, ambition, and conflict.

Tay Tay’s Mars is in the formidable “vengeance as an art form” sign of Scorpio. 

Mars in Scorpio views people as enemies or allies, with exes falling firmly in the latter category. These natives take nothing lightly and put a lot of effort into ensuring others feel the weight of the pain they have caused.

Beyond revenge, Scorpio energy seeks transformation, often spurred by trauma and/or loss. The alternative totem for the sign of Scorpio is the phoenix, and I can say confidently that Swift lives to light it up, watch it burn, write it down, and turn pain into profits.

Taylor has a long and illustrious history of transmuting the raw material of her relationships into song. She called out John Mayer by name and his list of personal failings in her 2010 song “Dear John.” Further, in keeping with her Scorpionic tendencies, Swift plays the long game. Her fervent fan base is still trolling that dude a decade later, greeting his entry to TikTok with slings and arrows. 

Perhaps the worst punishment in the playbook of Mars in Scorpio is erasure.

Fittingly, Swift has a stable of exes, including Tom Hiddleston, Calvin Harris, and Eddie Redmayne who have been weighed, measured, and found unworthy of immortality through music. Ouch, bro.

Planetary cluster in Capricorn, daddy energy rises and reigns

Swift has a stellium of planets in the hard knocks, tough love sign of Capricorn with her Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune all in sea goat territory.

Capricorn is a sign concerned with building and securing a legacy that will outlast them. We see this energy expressed in Swift, who is nothing if not on her damn grind.

Caps are big into ROI and our girl is not going to suffer for free, quite the opposite, she turns the pain of lived experience into lucrative melody, singing her fine self all the way to the proverbial bank and an ever impressive real estate portfolio.

Those with serious Capricorn placements tend to age in reverse; their early years see them growing up too fast and taking on adult responsibilities before they are emotionally equipped to do so.

If that sounds like it sucks, it does.

The upswing of this is that if they can manage to survive adolescence and early adulthood, they earn their happy childhood in the later part of their life, it ain’t easy but it sure is sweet. We see this timeline inversion in Swift who was bullied as a teen and lived through a healthy roster of douche lord dudes and frenemy feuds before hitting her stride in the last few years.

Fortunate forecast

A look at Swift’s transits reveals why she is experiencing one of the most fruitful and fortifying periods of her life, coming correct with glad tidings, creative energy, and lasting love and will continue to pour itself freely and favorably into Tay Tays proverbial pimp cup.

Cheers to you, Swift, may all your heartbreaks be in the rearview and may your brightest days await you.

Astrology 101: Your guide to the star

Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture and personal experience. To book a reading, visit her website.