Stephen Colbert’s birth chart

A Taurus Sun finds purpose in building something that lasts, and Stephen Colbert's vitality probably runs slow and steady rather than in bursts. The drawback is a reluctance to change course even when the plan is clearly not working. People with this Sun can stay in one job or one home long after part of them knows it is time to move.

The Moon in Gemini runs its daily habits on conversation and mental stimulation, and Stephen is likely to settle by talking a worry through rather than sitting with it quietly. A day with no one to talk to can leave them restless. The habit is to message a friend the moment something comes to mind, before deciding what to think about it.

With Mercury in Taurus, Stephen is likely to think slowly and thoroughly, and a conclusion once reached is rarely revisited without good reason. The communication style is plain and practical rather than showy. A new idea that clashes with what they already believe may have to wait a while for a hearing.

Venus in Cancer loves by nurturing, and for Stephen that suggests valuing emotional safety over almost anything else in a relationship. Old hurts tend to linger here long after the person who caused them has changed. This is a Venus that feeds people, checks on people and quietly keeps score of who has shown up in return.

Mars in Taurus acts deliberately and sticks with a course once chosen, and its anger builds slowly but takes a long time to cool once it arrives. At times Stephen may dig in out of stubbornness rather than conviction. It takes real provocation to make this Mars snap, and the rattled feeling tends to last a while afterwards.

In Stephen's chart, Jupiter in Taurus grows through patience, and what it builds tends to come together slowly and steadily rather than in one leap. Taken too far, that can become excess: holding on to more comfort or more stuff than serves them. They are probably generous with food, gifts and shared pleasures, and now and then generosity tips into indulgence.

Saturn in Pisces builds discipline around boundaries, and it usually starts from a habit of carrying feelings that belong to other people. For Stephen, the doubt is likely to take the form of guilt for protecting their own time and energy. What this Saturn works towards is a quiet, mature compassion, once it is clear that a boundary and a closed heart are not the same thing.

Uranus takes about seven years to cross a sign, so in Stephen's chart Uranus in Virgo describes an age group as much as a single person. It is a generation that changes how work and daily routine are done, through new methods and new technology. In one person it can be an instinct to question inherited routines.

Neptune in Scorpio marks a long season that Stephen shares with many people of a similar age. Its imagination is drawn to the hidden, the taboo and the transformative, with a wider cultural fascination for secrets and endings. In an individual that can be a pull towards mystery for its own sake.

Pluto in Virgo is shared by Stephen and many people born in the same span of years. That generation lives through deep change in work, in how services are organised, and in daily life itself. In one person that can be intensity around control, order and how much any one system can carry.