Isaiah Washington is one of the coolest actors around; I’ve been a big fan since his early days with Spike Lee. No one can match his smoldering charisma, and in the role of Preston Burke of Grey’s Anatomy he lights up the screen with a lethal combination of hot sexuality and icy coolness. His anger is as legenday as his beauty, however. A recent spat with co-star Patrick Dempsey ended in Washington’s putting a chokehold on Dempsey, and a recent tabloid tale reports that similar moves by Washington resulted in a restraining order by a movie costumer.

Isaiah Washington is a Leo, and inside every Leo is a need to be respected. Washington describes the Leo personality perfectly when he said, “I always knew that if I had the opportunity to be celebrated, I would shine.” Leo needs to shine, to be admired, and to accomplish this Leo does great things and often displays tremendous generosity. But the dark side of this need to be admired is a tendency towards anger when that admiration is withdrawn. The presence of Leo in the chart generally suggests confidence and pride, but confusing Neptune is in difficult aspect to his Leo Sun. This suggests that his confidence is easily eroded and that he may blame others for the lack of confidence within himself. The square of Neptune to the Sun often indicates an individual who becomes both a savior and a scapegoat; they carry the projections of others and their true nature is often obscured.

Uranus and Pluto were conjunct in in the early 1960s, a time of great social (Uranus) upheaval (Pluto). Everyone born during this time period carries this archetype of revolution and radical change in their nature as Washington does, but in his chart Mercury (his communication process) is tied in with the Uranus/Pluto dynamic. This gives him a tendency to be both passionate and compulsive (Pluto) in his thinking (Mercury), and be radical and rebellious (Uranus) in his ideas (Mercury). Isaiah Washington has gained his success by refusing to sacrifice his principles, something we would expect from the combination of Uranus/Mercury. But this combination also indicates someone who tends to be intense (Pluto) and argumentative (Uranus), and not likely to back down from a fight (Mercury/Pluto).

The Mercury/Uranus/Pluto triad is opposed by Chiron, the Wounded Healer. The presence of Chiron shows that Washington’s tendency to be outspoken and abrupt (Uranus/Mercury) has created problems for him in the past. With Chiron opposite Pluto there an intense (Pluto) inner pain (Chiron) that requires periods of crisis throughout his life in order to release the buildup of intensity and negative energy that results. Where some would deal with this kind of crisis through physical battle, for Washington it comes in the form of words (Mercury). Participation in martial sports such as hockey or kung fu would help Washington to release some of this pent-up intensity without creating arguments and drama.

His reckless (Uranus/Mercury) use of the words “faggot” and “bitch” has become a lightning rod for prejudices of all kinds over the past week. Blacks believe that Washington is being persecuted for his race, whites say that if he weren’t black he would have been fired. Gays express horror at the use of the word “faggot,” comparing it with the word “nigger.” Washington’s attempt to apologize during the Golden Globes was pounced upon as he tried to claim he hadn’t said “faggot,” and now he is in danger of losing his job.

Washington is currently undergoing a painful cycle of Chiron to his Sun that is opening up his old wounds and feelings of inadequacy. Chiron cycles serve to expose the places where our old wounds haven’t healed so that we will be forced to deal with those experiences and release them. At the same time, Uranus is transiting Chiron in his chart, setting off the painful memories and creating a crisis as described above that ultimately will result in transformation. Isaiah Washington faces a challenging year astrologically that will require a strong will and courage to face his inner demons. For Washington, those demons will be faced in a very public arena.