John Cheever
John Cheever (born May 27, 1912, Quincy, United States; died 1982), was an American novelist and short story writer. Cheever's honours include Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, O. Henry Award and Guggenheim Fellowship.
John Cheever’s zodiac sign was Gemini, Chinese zodiac was Water Rat, with Life Path 9 in numerology.
Gemini, Chinese zodiac was 
Water Rat, with 
Life Path 9 in numerology.Your match with John
John Cheever’s AsterNym identity
The Tidal Seeker
Water represents depth and adaptability. Water-led charts are associated with instinct, memory and the ability to find a path around obstacles. Life Path 9 represents compassion: generosity, completion and the ability to consider more than one person’s experience.
Water Day Master (BaZi) × mutable Sun × Life Path 9, on the intuitive plane.
How common is the name John in the U.S.?
#23
US rank in 2025
~5,204,377
Americans share it since 1880
1947
its peak year
Of the names registered in 1912, John came 1st among boys and 446th among girls, carried by 24,588 American boys and 112 girls.
US Social Security Administration public records
What John’s name adds up to
Worked from the name as published, letter by letter.
5
Expression · versatility
3
Soul Urge · being heard
11
Personality · perceptive
The name opens on J (1) and closes on N (5). The value it repeats most is 5, which numerology reads as movement.
Pythagorean letter values · A=1 to I=9, then J=1 again
John’s lucky numbers, colours and stones
Traditional correspondences, calculated not chosen.
Lucky numbers
9 · 2 · 3
Lucky colours
Blue & Black
Lucky day
Wednesday
Direction
↑ North
Season
winter
Stones
Emerald, Emerald, Aquamarine
Flower constellation
🌿 Lily of the Valley · 💜 Lavender · 🪷 Lotus
Ivory · Lilac · Soft pink
Eight Mansions · Kua number
Kua 6, trigram Qian 乾, West group. Best direction West, worst Southeast.
A different tradition from the Direction above, and a different question: feng shui reads it from the solar year 1912, which turns at Li Chun rather than at New Year, and from sex, which Wikidata records as male. Work out your own →
The record
What sets John apart
John Cheever took the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1951, at 39.
Thayer Academy and Quincy High School shaped the training.
Cause of death is recorded as kidney cancer; the grave is at First Parish Cemetery.
On the family side, John Cheever was raised 2 children.
The encyclopaedia's own shelving for John Cheever: Bisexual academics, Boston University faculty and Deaths from kidney cancer in New York (state).
Rachel Carson (1907) and Donna Strickland (1959) share the birthday in another year, so the sun sits where it sits here.
- Educated at
- Thayer Academy and Quincy High School
- Awards
- O. Henry Award (1956), Guggenheim Fellowship (1951) and William Dean Howells Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1965)
- Cause of death
- kidney cancer
- Buried at
- First Parish Cemetery
- Citizenship
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Wikipedia editions
- 46
What the chart says
John, according to the stars
Core essence
John is two conversations at once and somehow following both. Curiosity is the core of it: the quick question, the sideways joke, the friend who texts you an article at midnight because it reminded them of you. John needs newness the way other people need sleep, and gives the people around them the gift of never being bored.
How John wants to be loved
John wants to be loved slowly and for real. Venus in Taurus is touch, food, the good blanket, the plan that does not change. They are sensual and steady and they want to be shown, not told: the small physical kindnesses count double. Once John is yours, they stay, and they expect the same.
How John creates
How John makes things happen: they seep in. A Yin Water day master is rain, mist, the still pool that reflects everything. John creates by sensing, by imagination, by noticing what nobody else said. Their influence is quiet and total. The work is not dissolving into everyone else's weather.
Instinct
Instinct: John is quick, clever and alert, a Rat year, and their gut reaction to a problem is to find the angle nobody has tried. Charming, resourceful, a little bit of a hoarder of good things and good people. The Water year softens it: intuitive, adaptable, feeling their way through people.
Purpose
Purpose: Life Path 9 is the humanitarian. John is here for the bigger picture, to give, to finish what others started and hand it on. Wise beyond their years, compassionate, a little world-weary, and learning to receive as freely as they give.
Triggers
Triggers: feeling unsafe, or seeing their people treated badly. Mars in Cancer means John does not fight for themselves easily but will go to war for someone they love. The anger comes out sideways at first, then all at once. Protectiveness is the whole engine.
Computed from John's birth date. Working below.
Where John sits
Six lines
John’s dot comes from the chart; yours is where you put it.
You may draw energy from a wide network, many doors, lightly held.
You likely weigh most decisions but can move fast when it matters.
You likely share some feelings openly and keep others to yourself.
You likely handle some friction right away and let smaller things settle.
You may be drawn to big possibilities. The practical follows after the vision.
You likely warm up at a pace that depends on the person and moment.
Tap each line where you sit.
All twelve of yours, from your birth date →✦ A real star from their birth night
Dedicate a star to John Cheever
Three stars chosen from the real sky above Quincy on the night they were born. Choose the story that connects you.
A 9 p.m. reference sky, not the birth minute. Dedications are commemorative and confer no ownership of stars.
The sky over Quincy that night
Computed for 42.25°N, 9 p.m. local sky.
Alkaid stood nearest the zenith over Quincy at 9 p.m. that evening, 82.4° above the horizon in Ursa Major.
Of the 86 catalog stars above the horizon, Arcturus was the brightest.
From 42.3°N not one of the brightest stars stays permanently above the horizon — all of them rise and set.
Nothing below −47.8° declination clears the horizon at this latitude, so Canopus, Rigil Kentaurus, Achernar, Hadar, Acrux, Mimosa and Toliman were never visible from Quincy on any night.
Sun 16° below the horizon, Moon up and 92% lit at waxing gibbous.
The name and the places
- Born in
- Quincy, United States
The death is recorded at Ossining, Westchester County in 1982.
No birth time is on record, so no astrocartography map can be drawn for John Cheever: the lines move about fifteen degrees of longitude an hour. Shared Places can still draw yours.
How unusual John's chart is
Chart pattern score
25 / 100 · Reassuringly normal
1 unaspected planet · 1 planet at a critical degree
An AsterNym index built from stelliums, yods, grand crosses and chart shape. It is not a population percentile, and a high score is not a better chart. Without a birth time the houses are left out of it.
Score your own chart →Gemini Sun
Gemini SunFour conversations, one person.
John Cheever's Sun was in Gemini for the whole of May 27, 1912, so no birth time is needed to settle it.
What Gemini means →Water Rat
Water RatQuick, clever, never stuck.
John Cheever was born on May 27, 1912, which falls in a Water Rat year of the Chinese calendar.
What the Rat means →Life Path 9
Life Path 9Gives without keeping score.
John Cheever's birth date, May 27, 1912, reduces to Life Path 9 under the numerology method AsterNym uses.
What Life Path 9 means →What stands out in John’s chart
- The tightest major aspect in John Cheever's date-only chart is Venus conjunction Saturn, with an orb of under 1°.
- Three planets, Mercury, Venus and Saturn, sit together in Taurus, which astrologers call a stellium.
- John Cheever combines a Water Day Master in BaZi with a mutable Sun and a Life Path on the intuitive plane, the combination AsterNym calls The Tidal Seeker.
John’s birth chart
Reference chart · birth time unknown
Positions are checked across the whole date. The Moon ranges from 21° to 4° Libra or Scorpio depending on the hour.
No birth time, so the houses are a solar chart: the Sun’s sign counts as house 1.
Placements
Tap one to light it on the wheel.
The working: aspects, Chiron and the asteroids, dominant planets and configurationsshow
Aspects across every possible birth time
stableVenusconjunctionSaturn0.0° to 0.6° orb
John’s affections and discipline act as one. Each makes the other louder.
stableMoontrinePluto0.1° to 6.9° orb
John’s feelings flow straight into their depths. A talent so smooth it can go unnoticed.
stableSuntrineUranus2.2° to 3.2° orb
John’s core identity flows straight into their need for freedom.
stableVenussextileNeptune2.9° to 4.1° orb
stableSaturnsextileNeptune3.3° to 3.4° orb
stableMarsoppositionUranus3.4° to 4.0° orb
stableVenussextileMars4.0° to 4.7° orb
stableMarssextileSaturn4.2° to 4.7° orb
stableSunoppositionJupiter4.6° to 5.7° orb
possibleMoonsquareMarsorb from 0.0° to 8.3° depending on birth time
possibleMoonsquareUranusorb from 0.0° to 12.3° depending on birth time
possibleMoonsquareNeptuneorb from 0.1° to 12.2° depending on birth time
Chart signature
Elements
- Fire1 of 10
- Earth3 of 10
- Air4 of 10
- Water2 of 10
Modalities
- Cardinal3 of 10
- Fixed4 of 10
- Mutable3 of 10
Counted across the ten planets by sign: Air leads this chart.
John’s Chiron, Ceres, Eros, Hygiea and Lilith
What astrologers make of these five, at noon values.
⚷ ChironPisces 11°00′ (moves 0.02° over the day)
centaur (2060) · the wound and what is learnt from it
⚳ CeresLeo 8°43′ (moves 0.37° over the day)
dwarf planet (1) · how a person nurtures and wants to be nurtured
♡ ErosAquarius 14°09′ (moves 0.14° over the day)
near-Earth asteroid (433) · what draws them and how they desire
⚕ HygieaPisces 18°36′ (moves 0.23° over the day)
main-belt asteroid (10) · health, routine and what keeps them well
⚸ Black Moon LilithCapricorn 29°01′ (moves 0.11° over the day)
mean lunar apogee · the part that refuses to be tamed
Aspects to the asteroids and Lilith
- Chiron square Jupiter 0.1°
- Black Moon Lilith opposition Mars 0.6°
- Eros square Mercury 0.8°
- Ceres trine Jupiter 2.4°
- Ceres sextile Sun 2.7°
John’s dominant planets
1. ♀ Venus7 pts
in its own sign, Taurus; disposes Mercury, Saturn; 3 major aspects
2. ☿ Mercury5 pts
rules the Sun sign, Gemini; disposes Sun, Pluto
3. ♅ Uranus4 pts
in its own sign, Aquarius; 2 major aspects
Configurations in John’s chart
No stellium, grand trine, T-square, grand cross, yod or kite — the common case.
Minor aspects
semi-sextile, semi-square, quintile, sesquiquadrate, biquintile, quincunx.
- Uranus biquintile Pluto 0.6°
- Sun semi-square Neptune 0.8°
- Mars semi-sextile Pluto 1.7°
More people like John
Other screenwriters
- Joe Shuster1914
- James Agee1909
- John Hersey1914
- John W. Campbell1910
- Bernard Malamud1914
- Robert Cummings1910
Born in United States
- Russel B. NyeAmerican academic
- Anthony BoucherAmerican author, critic, and editor
- Norman Dello JoioAmerican composer
- Joseph PevneyAmerican actor and director
- Richard Nixonpresident of the United States from 1969 to 1974
- Joe RosenthalAmerican photographer
More charts like John’s
Fellow Gemini suns
- Clarence PageAmerican journalist
- Louise ErdrichAmerican-Ojibwe poet, novelist, and children's writer (born 1954)
- Roger EbertAmerican film critic and author
Born in Rat years
- Yukio MishimaJapanese author
- Cameron DiazAmerican actress and model
- Julianne MooreBritish-American actress and author
Also born on May 27
- Rachel Carson1907
- Donna Strickland1959
- Lily-Rose Depp1999
- Cornelius Vanderbilt1794
- Lisa Lopes1971
- André 30001975
Fellow Yin Water day masters
- Frank Morganactor
- Dorian HarewoodAmerican actor (born 1950)
- Raymond BurrCanadian actor
Other Gemini Rat charts
- Chien-Shiung WuChinese-American physicist
- Karl UrbanNew Zealand actor
- Stevie NicksAmerican singer and songwriter born 1948
- Denny HulmeNew Zealand racing driver
Other Tidal Seekers
- Alan BerstenAmerican professional dancer
- Christy Carlson RomanoAmerican actress (born 1984)
- Gwendoline ChristieBritish actress (born 1978)
- Ryan CabreraAmerican musician
Famous people with Life Path 9
- Austin ButlerAmerican actor
- Ray KrocAmerican businessman
- Lleyton HewittAustralian tennis player and tennis coach
From the journal: Cusp signs aren't real. Here's why · Sun sign stereotypes vs what modern Western readers say
John’s cards
Computed from May 27, 1912. Tap to flip.
Birth tarot card
The MoonAsterNym identity card
The Tidal SeekerWestern zodiac
GeminiChinese zodiac
Rat 子Life Path
9 · Healer☿ Ruled by Mercury
Quicksilver Hg
The working: BaZi pillarsshow
BaZi pillars
Day Master: yin Water.
Year
壬
yang Water
子
Rat
Water
roots & early life
Month
乙
yin Wood
巳
Snake
Fire
work & drive
Day
day master
癸
yin Water
卯
Rabbit
Wood
you & partnership
Where this comes from, and how it is worked out
John’s birth date and birthplace come from Wikidata Q336151 (CC0), as do the occupations, works and awards above. With no documented birth time this chart is rated X on the Rodden scale, the astrological convention for how well evidenced a birth time is. The banner above lists what that leaves out. Entries are matched to Wikidata by entity id rather than by name, kept at day precision, and dropped where sources disagree on the date.
Tropical zodiac, whole-sign houses, modern rulers. Aspects on the western_v1 orb policy; minor ones at 1.5° to 2.5°, skipped where a major already holds. Minor bodies from JPL Horizons heliocentric vectors, Lilith as mean apogee. Dominance is an AsterNym score — rulerships, dispositors, aspect count — so other methods can name a different leader.
Portrait by Wernerr Wolff, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
The same John Cheever at Wikipedia, IMDb and MusicBrainz.
Roster last reviewed September 10, 2026. The full method: how it works.
Traditional interpretations, not facts or predictions, and not endorsed by John Cheever.
Quick answers about John Cheever’s chart
- What zodiac sign was John Cheever?
- John Cheever was a Gemini: born May 27, 1912, which puts the Sun in Gemini for the whole of that day.
- What was John Cheever's Chinese zodiac animal?
- The Rat, with the Water element, from the Chinese lunar year of the May 27, 1912 birth.
- What was John Cheever's Life Path number?
- Life Path 9, calculated in numerology.
- What was John Cheever's Chiron sign?
- Chiron in Pisces at 11°. Position from JPL Horizons.
- Where was John Cheever's Black Moon Lilith?
- Mean Black Moon Lilith in Capricorn at 29°. This is the mean lunar apogee; the osculating Lilith some tables use can sit up to 30° away.
- What was John Cheever's dominant planet?
- Venus, on AsterNym's dominance score (7 points: in its own sign, Taurus; disposes Mercury, Saturn; 3 major aspects). Mercury is second and Uranus third. Other sites weight rulerships and aspects differently and can name a different leader.
