PORTRAIT OF A GANGSTER
by Ivana
Charles “Lucky” Luciano was born Salvatore Lucania in a small town outside Palermo, Italy, where his father worked in the sulfur mines. The family immigrated to New York when Luciano was 9 and not long after that, he started showing entrepreneurial talent. For a penny a day Luciano would protect Jewish children from beatings in his Lower East side neighborhood. At 16 he was convicted for peddling heroine and morphine and by his mid twenties he was making cash from prohibition. By late 1920s, Luciano was second only to Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria, of the mafia.
With no patience for his boss’s refusal to do business with anyone of a different nationality, Luciano teamed up with underbosses of the opposing crime family of Salvatore Marranzano. The details leaked and Luciano ended up getting beaten, stabbed and left for dead on a Staten Island beach.
Miraculously, he regained his consciousness and dragged himself to a local police station from which he was rushed to the hospital. Instead of getting the police involved, Luciano found out his boss Masseria was behind the attempt on his life, had him shot, becoming the chief gangster doing business with mafia chiefs all over America.
In 1936, after being convicted for running brothels, Luciano received a 30 to 60 year sentence, but as luck would have it, U.S. Naval Intelligence hired him in the war against the Nazis and for his cooperation the sentence was commuted under condition that he be deported to Italy. In Italy Luciano established an alliance with Corsican mafia and continued his narcotics trade. He died peacefully of a heart attack at age 64.
“Lucky” Luciano was a Sidereal Scorpio with six planets in that sign. With a Capricorn Ascendant and such a heavy Scorpio emphasis, he was a shrewd businessman and willing to stop at nothing to make profit. Five out of six Scorpio planets conjunct his Midheaven from the 9th house side and with his 1st and 10th house rulers conjunct directly on the 10th house cusp, he was meant for fame and professional success no matter what he did.
His North Node is in Capricorn in the 12th house. It was important for his karmic growth to become successful in business and that he learned to operate behind the scenes, although he took “behind the scenes” a bit too far.
His 4th house Pluto opposes his 9th house Moon and 10th house Mercury; Luciano’s unstoppable ambition cost him living in his beloved New York. –Legal and immigration issues being indicated by the 9th house emphasis and forced relocation by 4th house Pluto opposite the Moon.
In a case of too much of a good thing, almost all the Scorpio 9th house planets sextile Jupiter in the 8th house in Virgo. Jupiter emphasized an already overemphasized 9th house stellium and helped Luciano to, quite literally, get away with murder. To top it off, Part of Fortune sat directly on his Ascendant and played a key role in saving his life when he nearly got killed.
It’s easy to see that “Lucky’s” chart is one of an extremely successful individual. Every birth chart holds a potential for success and how that potential is used or not depends on the individual in question. Even though Scorpio, a sign heavily emphasized in Luciano’s chart rules, among other things, mafia and the underground, there were many other more positive ways for him to utilize Scorpio energy. One thing Scorpio emphasis did for Luciano is that it rendered him indestructible. Scorpio thrives on challenges and bounces back from trauma better than any other sign.
Wherever you find Scorpio in your chart lays a tremendous source of energy that can be used for good or evil. Use it wisely.
