George Takei’s Prominent Twelfth House Highlights His Time Spent in Internment Camps

I recently came across news that actor George Takei’s musical Allegiance, which chronicles his time spent in an internment camp during World War II, will be opening in London’s West End years after its brief run on Broadway. It got me thinking about his chart, specifically his prominent twelfth place.

The twelfth place in the natal chart, referred to as the place of Bad Spirit in Hellenistic Astrology, is associated with the ghosts of the past, mental suffering, hidden enemies and solitude. The second century astrologer Valens of Antioch said it is in the twelfth that we will be able to glean information about punishment, particularly imprisonment. 

Takei, a Japanese-American, was imprisoned with his parents in 1942 when he was just six years old. Some 120,000 Japanese-Americans just like Takei and his family were sent into internment camps by the American government under the false premise that they were loyal to the Japanese empire and could potentially spy.

While much has changed in astrology since the second century and the time of Valens, the twelfth place remains firmly associated with imprisonment, punishment and exile. It is frequently a place where astrologers can get information about forms of injustice and marginalization. 

Saturn is the planet that most represents Takei in his chart, and Saturn is ruling the twelfth. From this we can surmise that imprisonment and exile, common twelfth place topics, will be a major theme for his life.

Takei’s twelfth is in the sign of Capricorn, ruled by the planet Saturn, which just so happens to be the guiding planet — or helmsman — of his chart. Given that Saturn is the planet that most represents Takei in the chart, and that Saturn is ruling the twelfth, we can surmise that imprisonment and exile will be a major theme for his life.

Saturn generally speaks to ideas of boundaries, rules, authority, structure and exclusion. He is said to find his joy in the twelfth place, which is all about confinement. In Takei’s chart, the planet of blessings, Jupiter, is also locked away in the twelfth. Ancient astrologers believed that when planets were confined to the place of Bad Spirit, they were essentially imprisoned, unable to bring about their benefits in the life of the native.

But what’s interesting about Takei’s Jupiter, confined to the house of Saturn’s joy, is that it’s directly configured by aspect to Saturn. In fact, Saturn and Jupiter are both in each other’s signs, so with the linkage formed by the tight degree-based aspect, it’s almost as if Saturn is throwing Jupiter a lifeline. He’s giving Jupiter a way out. It’s easy to read this as Takei experiencing a period of hardship while imprisoned in an internment camp, but eventually being freed to find success later in life. 

Jupiter is Takei’s career planet (ruler of the Midheaven) and it’s also his money planet (ruler of the second place). This is significant given Takei’s recent creative ventures to tell his story about his internment. In addition to the musical Allegiance, Takei also wrote a graphic novel about his experience titled They Called Us Enemy. (Ironically, the twelfth is frequently dubbed the place of hidden enemies.)

I’ve been fascinated by Takei’s chart for a while. Mainly because Jupiter — the planet of pushing boundaries, expansion and exploration — rules his career. Adventurous Jupiter seems like a fitting planet for someone who made a name for himself playing an actor in Star Trek, which had the slogan, “To boldly go where no man has gone before.”

As you can see, natal charts are often quite literal. While we’re dealing in the realm of symbols when we examine a chart, those abstractions often point to the concrete. In Takei’s case, his internment is spelled out plainly. As are his creative attempts to tell that story through drama and literature.

If you’re interested in discovering what the twelfth place says about you in your natal chart, I encourage you to book a consultation with me. Together we can explore how your chart is highlighting blessings, challenges and potential paths forward in your life.