SERENA WILLIAMS: 20 YEARS LATER: Debilitated Mars/Rahu

Introduction: Serena Williams and Debilitated Mars

Birth Data:  9-26-1981, 20:28, Saginaw, Michigan

     Every year during the first week of September, my attention focuses on the U.S. Open Grand Slam tennis matches in NYC. I’m a tennis fan, and I have loved the sport since childhood. There is something important about the connections between physical stamina and endurance, combined with mental precision, intense focus, strategy, perseverance and mind/body coordination that tennis exemplifies. Without mental fortitude and centeredness, along with physical skill, perseverance, motivation and energy, one cannot excel in the game of tennis---perhaps this is also true in the game of “life.”  The real competition is with oneself, and secondarily this plays out on the court with the opponent. If your mind brings you down and you lose your concentration, you can’t win, no matter how physically skilled. You’re finished. 

     Look at Serena Williams today, approaching age 41 this month, which is ancient in professional tennis player years, and she is playing in the U.S. Open--- and at the time of this writing, she has won the first two rounds in singles. It’s astounding and was not expected, especially since she recently announced her retirement (“evolution”) away from professional tennis. She then mesmerized two sold-out zealous crowds this week in these opening games, not only demonstrating her will, motivation, power and tennis skill, but also showing the world how the power of belief, hard work, perseverance, and never giving up can produce a “win.” Now she is demonstrating that aging does not stop you from living and advancing. Her winning record is unmatched, with 23 Grand Slam titles, starting at age 17.

     Serena is a story of overcoming the odds, being a black woman trying to be taken seriously and respected in the world of sports, and not being afraid to ignore the naysayers, producing a powerful serve that was never previously seen in women’s tennis (and has become the serve to emulate among female players), being willing to fight, struggle and climb the mountain to reach the summit, no matter what it takes. She won’t take “no” for an answer. Every experience is a challenge to do even better, even when she loses. She has inspired so many people throughout the world (young and old) to “be your greatest self, go for success, to be fearless, fight, remain strong and never give up.”  She is the planet “Mars” personified.  Her fierce intensity is unmatched, on and off the court. She’s a fascinating person and her Vedic horoscope is quite interesting in reflecting these traits. 

     Roughly 20 years ago, in November 2002, I offered a lecture and published a Vedic Astrology ACVA journal paper describing my observations, hypotheses and realizations regarding “debilitated planets,” see https://dgoldsteinphd.com/debilitated-planets%3A-2002

     The main point of the writing was to demonstrate the function and manifestation of debilitated (neecha) planets within the total context of an astrological chart, and how this particular class of planets may be experienced in real life.   I examined Serena Williams’ Vedic Astrological chart and used her chart as an example of a successful professional athlete with a debilitated Mars/Rahu conjunction. It turns out that my assumptions, ideas and hypotheses from that writing are coming to fruition for Serena, in terms of how she has continued to work and develop herself with her “debilitated Mars.” 

     I won’t repeat verbatim what was written in this paper, as you may read it in its entirety at my website (“Perspectives on Debilitated Planets (Nov. 2002)” in the Publications area.   In short, a planet is considered to be in “debilitation” when it falls within a particular zodiac sign where its expression is especially weak. There are also specific degrees where that planet is shown to be at highest degree of fall. For the planet Mars, it is debilitated in the sign of Cancer at its most extreme degree of debility of 28 degrees Cancer, which is in Ashlesha nakshatra and is in the 3rd sarpa drekkana of Cancer. 

     The term “debilitation” refers to a weakened state for that planet, as the planet is not comfortable and not functioning according to its natural style and approach. Rather, the planet is living in an uncomfortable placement, where its natural expression is altered, limited or curtailed in some way.  The debilitated planet is trapped in this position, like being in jail.  It is easy to assume that the existence of a debilitated planet in a given chart will be problematic and not reflect positive, strong results. What seems to manifest, in reality, is that there are definitely problems experienced related specifically to the debilitated planet, and yet concurrently, the possibility also exists for manifesting a high level of achievement and success, or in the case of Serena, extreme levels of success and motivation under the terms of her unique debilitated Mars/Rahu conjunction.  Both co-exist—the problems related to her Mars/Rahu conjunction and the enormous level of independence, power, endurance, motivation, never giving in and never giving up, all leading to fame and heightened levels of success. Her will and determination to win each and every competition is so extreme, it is well over 3 standard deviations beyond the mean (of the bell curve), which is nearly impossible to attain! 

     It’s important to always consider and synthesize the entire horoscope, all of the planets, not just the debilitated planet. If other planets in the chart are strong and well-placed, then that one major weak area has the support from those planetary qualities to rise above the issues. If there is little support from the rest of the chart, then the debilitated planet has less chance of overcoming its problems. 

     How can one of the greatest athletes of all time (male or female) have a “Debilitated Mars,” the planet that governs and rules “sports, competition and athletics?” It seems illogical at first glance. My explanation of this phenomenon is confirmed, born out of 25 years of chart study and investigations.  Serena’s chart provides one of the best examples. There is a deep inner belief or feeling in the person who has a debilitated planet, that the areas of life governed by that planet reflect a deficiency, discomfort, inadequacy, insecurity or incompleteness which has likely manifested over many previous lifetimes. This deep-seated tendency depicted by the debilitated planet now shows up in the current lifetime to improve, heal and work on. 

     The overall planetary profile shows us the tendencies, issues, strengths, weaknesses, talents and discrepancies that we have brought forward into this present incarnation. Each person then has a choice as to how much attention, effort, energy and time that he or she wants to direct on those particular areas.  It’s an active decision that is voluntary. 

     In the case of a debilitated planet, the person may elect to work hard at developing this area, to overcome what is perceived and experienced as a weakness, insecurity, inadequacy or simply as an area of automatic rejection or discomfort. Or, the individual can decide to completely ignore and reject that area, by figuratively building a mote to separate oneself from those areas, and try to work around it or in spite of it. In one case the person dives in and attempts to experience those areas head first and in the other case, the person avoids and tries to escape those areas in an attempt to avoid the discomfort, dislike and sense of rejection involving those uncomfortable domains.

Analysis of Serena William’s Debilitated Mars/Rahu combination:

     In Serena’s chart, she is Aries rising with the Lagnesh (1st house ruling planet) Mars in the 4th house, at 21:58 degrees Cancer, in debilitation, in Ashlesha nakshatra.   Her Mars is conjunct Rahu and her Arudha Lagna (AL) (another 1st house in the chart) is also in the sign of Cancer. Note that the Lagnesh is a critical planet for describing the personality as a whole, just as important as the Lagna itself and the Sun’s position. Right away, you can see her pioneering spirit, intense restlessness, high drive, great desire for independence, high motivation, and relentlessness. It’s the Rahu influence that magnifies her Mars tendencies. 

     With the Arudha Lagna in Cancer, that places Mars/Rahu directly in that 1sthouse and hence, she will behave and physically appear like those planets, with even more intensity. The Mars/Rahu is quite dominant in her personality profile. Everyone can see it and feel it emanating from her body.

     In Serena’s case, she has always felt that she had to win each and every competition. It is a compulsion in her mind. Mars rules competitions, fights and physical stamina, endurance, motivation and strength. She takes this seriously and she has organized her life around Mars and all of its significations. She basically has taken every Mars signification and tried to express it at its highest degree possible, and to go beyond expectations and norms, especially in tennis. There is a strong emotional quality assigned to her Mars as it is in the most sensitive emotional water sign of Cancer. This reflects her deep emotional reactions, moodiness and ups and downs that she has experienced.  

     The Ashlesha influence is mesmerizing and hypnotic. She can walk on the court and just with her gaze, her physical presence, inherent shakti, she can hypnotize her opponents and paralyze or through off their game. She certainly demonstrates that with her racket.  She detaches herself and gets into a zone while playing tennis or whenever she competes, and she is unstoppable. This is precisely one of the qualities associated with in this nakshatra.  Ashlesha is symbolized by the serpent, the snake, which can do the same. 

     Yet, there is an underlying discomfort, worry and sense of dissatisfaction related to her Mars/Rahu. This drives her to push harder and farther in her pursuits on and off the court. There’s always the sense that something is missing, that something is not complete.  Perhaps once I win a major, I will feel complete, peaceful and secure? No, maybe two majors, no maybe....23??  Rahu casts its shadow, creating a sense of darkness or incompleteness on her Mars.

     The 3rd drekkana of Cancer, where her Mars is placed at 21:58 degrees, is one of the sarpa drekkanas. It is depicted as “a man with a flat face, wearing jewelry, who has a snake coiled around him. He’s on a boat, crossing the ocean, searching for his wife’s jewels.” The coiled snake refers to being trapped by one’s life situation at some level, and it refers to having powerful, hypnotic energy, that can cure/heal or kill. The flat face is seen in her ability to hide her intentions and not give away what she is thinking or where she will place her serve on the court. The jewelry is obvious, as she often wears a lot of jewelry and has her own fashion line. Even her shoes had 400 diamonds embedded and gold on the laces in this most recent match. She often appears to be searching, traveling and seeking something better, bigger and more luxurious. There can be some problems with the sarpa drekkanas. Her behavior has at times been controversial, argumentative, and reactive and she’s gotten herself into some trouble over the years. At times her debilitated sarpa drekkana Mars behaves that way. Snakes tend to hide, and you don’t always know when they’ll strike out at you from nowhere. 

     Her efforts to heal her Mars have been profound so far to age 41. This is an example of directing intense focus on improving the parts of herself where she felt an extreme level of incompleteness, discomfort, possible loss of power/strength or previous disappointment. She chose to engage with her Mars, not ignore or avoid it. The more that she competes and wins, the more that she heals the Mars and fills in the missing pieces, the more that she gets in touch with herself. She goes to extremes expressing the Mars energy because she is actually unsure of how far to take it and even how to control it for best results. She learns to strengthen Mars by playing the game of tennis, which is a perfect metaphor for this personal development.

     Her Mars is in the 4th house, in Cancer, the sign that focuses on security, the home, the family, and the 4th house governs real estate, vehicles, education, mother, and one’s level of contentedness. Debilitated Mars/Rahu in the 4th house does not lend itself to being contented. It shows an enormous inner struggle to find peace and to settle the mind. With the Mars/Rahu in the 4thhouse, there are likely to be some karmic past-life problems coming from the mother’s side of the family that were passed down (inherited from that lineage) for her to work on.

      She has purchased several estates and has large homes in Florida, California and New York. With a reported net worth of $260 million, she is the world’s highest-paid female athlete. With her Lagnesh Mars in the 4th house, she has strong motivation for acquiring real estate. From her AL, she has a powerful Malavya yoga Venus in that 4th house of real estate, further supporting this area. Moreover, her Moon is in the fortunate trinal 5th house and governs her 4th house, which shows her gains through real estate, as well as in sports and the artistic world of fashion, in theatre and drama. Her positive Moon in the 5thhouse shows how she gains happiness, pleasure and emotional security from sports, games, romance, parties and with children and the arts. 

     Note that her 5th house Moon is in the sign of Leo, so she seeks respect, loyalty, being the boss/leader, recognition, status, fame, and wants to be center stage, loving a grand reception, party and celebrations. It is also the house governing sports, games, children, education and spiritual techniques (including mantra chanting). This is where she goes to feel emotionally secure and where she seeks support. 

It’s important to also emphasize that she has a mahapurusha Malavya yoga Venus in the 7th house of partnership and marriage. This is the strongest dominant planet in her chart, as it is on an angle and in its own sign of Libra. This is the side of her that is sweet, social, glamorous, loves the costume and luxuries, is artistic, wealthy, and further enhances her real estate and prosperity inclinations. She is quite involved in fashion and brings that glamorous side onto the court while she competes. She has even made a business enterprise out of fashion and design. Note that her strong Venus also rules the 10th house from her Moon (another indicator of heightened career success).

Some of the Problems Stemming From Mars/Rahu:

     On the other hand, she has experienced significant health problems stemming from this Mars/Rahu combination. She has suffered from severe headaches since childhood, which became serious migraines. Her debilitated Mars rules the 1st house governing the head (pressure headaches). Mars also rules the blood and muscles. The 4th house rules the lungs. She has a history of major blood clots targeted at her lungs, and experienced a pulmonary embolism that was life-threatening.  In later years, she will be prone to having a stroke.  She may also experience some problems with the breast (4th house). She has also had to learn how to manage her anger and settle her mind. These are all problems stemming from the Mars/Rahu in debilitated Cancer, in the 4th house. Mars also shows how an individual deals with anger. Her Mars/Rahu in Cancer can be emotionally extreme, intense, furious and easily lose control. She has worked on this therapeutically over the decades.

Moving From Rahu to Jupiter Mahadasha on 9-5-2022:

      It’s also quite interesting to follow her planetary cycles (mahadasha periods) event timeline. Her heightened rise to success and great fame came during her Rahu dasha, but it began in her Mars dasha. She won her first major Grand Slam title at age 17, in 1999, in her Mars/Jupiter period (just before her 18thbirthday). This demonstrates the theory that working diligently to improve the areas signified by a debilitated planet, can improve one’s life and bring gains and success in life, in spite of the planet’s troubled status. It also shows that the Rahu mahadasha can indicate much achievement, success and even fame manifesting during its cycle, if other chart factors concur. 

     Her success expanded and multiplied from that time forward. She entered Rahu mahadasha in September 2004 and won major titles and several gold metals, consistently over the past 18 years. She entered Rahu/Venus as of March 2016, and she had her first child and got married, all in Rahu/Venus, which is notorious for indicating a strong window for relationship and marriage to take place. It’s a very strong time for getting into a serious relationship in general, but for Serena, Venus also rules her 7th house of marriage. Moreover, in her D-9, Navamsa varga, Rahu and Venus are trine and Venus is in the 11th house of meeting one’s desires in relationships and attaining marriage. Perfect timing.

     Serena also had her first child on September 1, 2017, while in Rahu/Venus, just prior to her marriage in November 2017. In her D-7 Saptamsa varga (governs children), Venus is exalted, prominently placed in that 10th house and Rahu is in the 9th house, another prominent house for children as it is 5thfrom the 5th house. Notice how her life focus shifted away from tennis toward marriage, children and social events, business, fashion, celebrity status while she was in Rahu/Venus (from 3-25-2016 – 3-25-2019). 

     At the present time, Serena is just about to change mahadasha periods to Jupiter/Jupiter starting on 9-5-2022. Jupiter lasts 16 years in length. It’s fascinating (and yet astrologically anticipated) that she makes the announcement about her plans to retire from tennis at this time, during the last month of her 18-year Rahu mahadasha. Serena has publicly stated that she wants to expand her family unit and move beyond tennis, even though it is close to her heart and an intimate part of her identity. She also stated that it is time for her to focus on her spirituality now. Jupiter rules children, religion, spirituality, philosophy, higher knowledge, as well as optimism, expansion, education and wealth. 

     Notice how leaving the Rahu mahadasha transitions her to focus more on other dimensions of her life that are specifically aligned with the planet Jupiter. Her Rahu is closely associated with the debilitated Mars. She worked on her Mars issues for the past 25 years while she was in the 7-year Mars and 18-year Rahu dasha periods. Tennis in her life aligns with her Mars/Rahu and Rahu dasha is now coming to an end.

     Jupiter is the planet governing children, so no wonder she wants to have another child now just as she enters the new Jupiter mahadasha. Moreover, Jupiter rules her 5th house from the Moon and the 5th house is the house governing children. Also, her Moon is in the 5thhouse of children, showing her great affection, love and attachment to having children in her life. It also shows how she deeply loves being involved with children and setting an example for them.  That’s her soft spot—children. 

     Currently, Jupiter is transiting a strong position, in its own sign of Pisces through her 12th house (endings, spirituality, charity, foreign travel) and it’s aspecting her Mars/Rahu combination, as well as her 6th house which includes the Sun, Saturn and Jupiter, respectively. This bodes well for her current life situation, just as she begins Jupiter’s dasha. Then, as of April 21, 2023, she will experience Jupiter transiting prominently through her 1st house and aspecting her 5th house (children), 7th house (with Venus and Mercury) and fortunate 9th house. This Aries Jupiter transit lasts one year until May 1, 2024. For Serena, this transit helps to promote having children, adds to her sense of optimism, life expansion, and supports and protects her health. 

     At this point, we know that she has left Rahu and now her consciousness will become more influenced under Jupiterian terms. It’s highly likely that she will move on from her tennis career, but not from competing, a tendency that is deeply genetically wired.  Now onto the 3rd round of singles at the US Open. She plays tonight and it will undoubtedly be hypnotic.