William Safire
William Safire (born December 17, 1929, New York City, United States; died 2009), was an American journalist and presidential speechwriter. Safire's honours include Presidential Medal of Freedom and Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.
William Safire’s zodiac sign was Sagittarius, and in the Chinese zodiac they were an Earth Snake, with Life Path 5 in numerology.
Sagittarius, and in the Chinese zodiac they were an 
Earth Snake, with 
Life Path 5 in numerology.How compatible are you with William Safire?
Your birthday, just below, gives your match percentage with William. Under a minute.
Your AsterNym Match
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Two details and you have your number with William. Under a minute, and it is real astrology, not a quiz.
Your result includes:
- · Your compatibility percentage
- · What attracts you to each other
- · What you would bring to the match
- · Where you might clash
- · Whether you share lucky numbers, colours, stones or seasons
William Safire’s AsterNym identity
The Radiant Explorer
Fire represents warmth, visibility and momentum. Fire-led charts are associated with enthusiasm, expression and the ability to encourage other people. Life Path 5 represents freedom: change, movement, variety and resistance to restrictive routines.
Fire Day Master (BaZi) × mutable Sun × Life Path 5, on the physical plane.
How common is the name William in the U.S.?
#9
US rank in 2025
~4,215,725
Americans share it since 1880
1947
its peak year
US Social Security Administration public records
William’s lucky numbers, colours and stones
Traditional correspondences calculated from AsterNym’s astrology, wuxing and numerology system.
Lucky numbers
5 · 2 · 8 · 9
Lucky colours
Yellow & Ochre
Lucky day
Thursday
Direction
• Center
Season
the turning of seasons
Stones
Turquoise, Yellow Sapphire, Citrine
Flower constellation
🤍 Narcissus · 🌸 Peony · 🌼 Chrysanthemum
Frost white · Rose-gold · Gold
The same wuxing & numerology correspondences as your own print. One tradition, read for everyone
What the chart says
William, according to the stars
Core essence
William is the friend who says "let's just go" and means today. The core of William is faith that the world is bigger and better than the room they are in, and a restlessness to go and check. They are honest to the point of it being a sport, funny by accident, and impossible to keep small. Freedom is not a preference, it is oxygen.
The vibe
Underneath, William is all feeling, tide in and tide out. The Moon in Cancer means moods are weather, real and passing, and memory is long: they keep every kindness and, quietly, every slight. What William needs to feel safe is a soft place to land that is not going anywhere. Give them that and they give you everything.
How William wants to be loved
William wants to be loved by someone who is also their favourite travel companion. Venus in Sagittarius needs laughter, honesty and a long leash, and gives the same. Possessiveness kills it; adventure feeds it. Go somewhere new with William and watch them fall for you again.
How William creates
How William makes things happen: they light the room. A Yang Fire day master is the sun, warm, visible, impossible to ignore, generous with energy and expecting the same back. William creates in front of people and is at their best with an audience and a cause. The work is learning to rest before the fire does it for them.
Instinct
Instinct: William is wise and watchful, a Snake year, and their gut reaction is to observe before moving. Elegant, intuitive, private, and usually right about people long before saying so. The Earth year grounds it: practical, patient, someone people lean on.
Purpose
Purpose: Life Path 5 is the free spirit. William is here to explore, to change, to taste everything and report back. Adventure, variety and freedom are not distractions from their purpose, they are it. The lesson is choosing, sometimes, and staying.
Triggers
Triggers: being fenced in, and being lied to. Mars in Sagittarius fights loud, laughs it off, and is genuinely fine ten minutes later. William has boundless energy for anything with a horizon in it and none for the small print. Aim them at something far away and step back.
Computed from William's birth date, not guessed. The full working is below.
Where William sits
Six lines. Tap where you sit on each.
William’s dot is placed from the chart. Yours is wherever you put it.
You likely balance a tight inner circle with a wider orbit you dip into.
You may leap first and adjust as you go. Waiting can feel like losing momentum.
You likely share some feelings openly and keep others to yourself.
You may want to resolve tension the moment it appears, rather than let it sit.
You likely balance practical steps with room to imagine further.
You may feel connection fast. Chemistry can arrive before the details do.
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 William Safire
Three stars chosen from the real sky above New York City on the night they were born. Choose the story that connects you.
No public birth time is available, so this is a 9:00 p.m. reference evening sky for that date and place. It is connected to the night of birth; it is not the sky at the birth minute, and no other reading on this page uses that time. Dedications are commemorative AsterNym records and do not rename or confer ownership of stars.
William Safire at a glance
Sagittarius Sun
Sagittarius SunNeeds a horizon, any horizon.
William Safire's Sun was in Sagittarius for the whole of December 17, 1929, so no birth time is needed to settle it. Traditional Sagittarius readings associate the sign with distance, belief and candour: travel, big questions and an answer given before it was asked for. Astrologers describe it as the mutable fire sign, ruled by Jupiter, and read it for optimism and appetite. The corresponding tension is overreach, with the classical caution that the horizon is more attractive than the ground underfoot.
Earth Snake
Earth SnakeCalm surface, fast strike.
William Safire was born on December 17, 1929, which falls in a Earth Snake year of the Chinese calendar. Traditional Snake readings emphasise intelligence, composure and depth: thinking before speaking, and speaking less than it knows. The Chinese almanacs describe the Snake as the sage of the cycle, private and deliberate. The corresponding caution in the tradition is suspicion, with a tendency to hold a grudge as carefully as it holds a secret.
Life Path 5
Life Path 5Freedom over comfort, always.
William Safire's birth date, December 17, 1929, reduces to Life Path 5 under the numerology method AsterNym uses. Traditional Life Path 5 readings associate the number with freedom, change and variety: movement, new experience and resistance to restrictive routine. Numerologists describe it as the path of the traveller, adaptable and restless. The corresponding tension is instability, with the caution that constant motion can become a way of avoiding commitment to any one direction.
What stands out in William’s chart
- The tightest major aspect in William Safire's date-only chart is Mercury square Uranus, with an orb of about 1°.
- Three planets, Sun, Venus and Mars, sit together in Sagittarius, which astrologers call a stellium.
- William Safire combines a Fire Day Master in BaZi with a mutable Sun and a Life Path on the physical plane, the combination AsterNym calls The Radiant Explorer.
William’s birth chart
Reference chart · birth time unknown
No documented birth time exists for William Safire, so the positions below are checked across the whole birth date, not fixed at noon. The Moon ranges from 5° to 20° Cancer depending on the hour. The wheel's houses are a solar chart, counted from the Sun's sign, because the Ascendant needs a time.
No birth time, so the houses are a solar chart: the Sun’s sign counts as house 1. A documented time would place them from the Ascendant instead.
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
Stable aspects hold for any birth hour. Possible ones depend on the hour, so their orb is a range rather than a number. Orb policy western_v1.
stableMercurysquareUranus0.2° to 1.8° orb
William’s mind grinds against their need for freedom. The friction is lifelong. Worked with, it builds real strength.
stableSaturntrineNeptune1.5° to 1.6° orb
William’s discipline flows straight into their imagination. Effortless, which is exactly why it gets taken for granted.
stableJupitersextileUranus2.0° to 2.1° orb
William’s growth opens doors for their need for freedom. Nothing happens until someone makes the first move.
stableMercurytrineNeptune2.1° to 3.7° orb
William’s mind flows straight into their imagination.
stableVenusoppositionJupiter2.9° to 4.3° orb
William’s affections pull against their growth from across the wheel.
stableMercuryconjunctionSaturn3.7° to 5.1° orb
William’s mind and discipline act as one.
stableSunconjunctionMars3.9° to 4.2° orb
William’s core identity and drive act as one.
stableVenustrineUranus5.0° to 6.3° orb
William’s affections flow straight into their need for freedom.
stableSaturnsquareUranus5.4° to 5.5° orb
William’s discipline grinds against their need for freedom.
stableJupitersquareNeptune5.9° to 6.0° orb
William’s growth grinds against their imagination. The angle that irritates, and the one that teaches.
stableSunconjunctionSaturn6.3° to 7.2° orb
William’s core identity and discipline act as one. Each makes the other louder.
possibleMoonoppositionMercuryorb from 0.1° to 13.0° depending on birth time
Chart signature
Elements
- Fire4 of 10
- Earth3 of 10
- Air1 of 10
- Water2 of 10
Modalities
- Cardinal5 of 10
- Fixed0 of 10
- Mutable5 of 10
Counted across the ten planets by sign: Fire leads this chart.
William’s Chiron, Ceres, Eros, Hygiea and Lilith
Four minor bodies and the mean lunar apogee, placed in the same tropical zodiac as the planets above. None of these feed the chart signature, the rarity score or any ranking on this site: they are listed for readers who use them. Chiron, Ceres, Eros and Hygiea positions come from JPL Horizons; Black Moon Lilith is the mean apogee, the point most published Lilith tables use. The readings are the modern tradition’s, not AsterNym’s. Without a birth time the degree is the noon value and the day's movement is shown alongside it.
⚷ Chiron ℞Taurus 10°08′ (moves 0.03° over the day)
centaur (2060) · the wound and what is learnt from it
Chiron in Taurus is read as a wound around security and worth. The reading has William building steadiness by hand after finding it could not be assumed.
⚳ Ceres ℞Gemini 9°01′ (moves 0.21° over the day)
dwarf planet (1) · how a person nurtures and wants to be nurtured
Ceres in Gemini is read as nurture through talk and attention. The tradition has William feeding people with information and feeling fed by conversation.
♡ ErosCapricorn 1°16′ (moves 0.62° over the day)
near-Earth asteroid (433) · what draws them and how they desire
Eros in Capricorn is read as desire that respects competence and control. William is read as drawn to people who have built something.
⚕ HygieaAries 3°58′ (moves 0.11° over the day)
main-belt asteroid (10) · health, routine and what keeps them well
Hygiea in Aries is read as health kept through action and short bursts. The reading has William feeling well when moving and poorly when made to wait.
⚸ Black Moon LilithCapricorn 23°27′ (moves 0.11° over the day)
mean lunar apogee · the part that refuses to be tamed
Black Moon Lilith in Capricorn is read as ambition that does not ask to be liked. William is read as someone who takes the authority rather than waiting for it.
Aspects to the asteroids and Lilith
Major aspects only, at a tight 3° orb. The Moon is left out because its position moves 13° across an untimed day.
- Ceres conjunction Jupiter 0.5°
- Eros conjunction Saturn 0.8°
- Ceres sextile Uranus 1.6°
- Hygiea square Saturn 1.9°
- Eros trine Neptune 2.3°
- Hygiea square Mercury 2.5°
Method: JPL Horizons heliocentric vectors, 1700–2100, cubic Hermite interpolation; geocentric, true ecliptic of date, tropical; geometric (no light-time or aberration); Lilith = mean lunar apogee (Chapront/Meeus mean perigee + 180°).
William’s dominant planets
Scored from rulerships, dispositors and aspect count. Without a birth time there is no Ascendant or house to score, and the Moon's sign is left out where it could change with the hour.
1. ♃ Jupiter9 pts
rules the Sun sign, Sagittarius; disposes Sun, Venus, Mars; 3 major aspects
2. ♄ Saturn7 pts
in its own sign, Capricorn; disposes Mercury; 4 major aspects
3. ☿ Mercury5 pts
disposes Jupiter, Neptune; 3 major aspects
A Jupiter-led chart is read as scale and optimism leading: William is read as reaching for the bigger version of any plan.
How the score is built
- Rules the Sun sign, Moon sign or Ascendant sign: 3 points each (traditional co-rulers of Scorpio, Aquarius and Pisces score half).
- Sits in a sign it rules: 2 points.
- Disposes another planet (that planet sits in a sign it rules): 1 point each.
- Angular: 2 points in the first or tenth house, 1 point in the fourth or seventh (timed births only).
- Every major aspect it makes: 1 point.
Dominance scoring is an AsterNym method. Other sites weight differently and can name a different leader for the same chart.
Configurations in William’s chart
Closed shapes among the ten planets under the site’s one aspect-orb policy. The Moon is excluded without a birth time, so a shape that needs it is not claimed.
Stellium in Sagittarius · Sun, Venus, MarsThree or more planets in one sign (four, or three with a luminary, by AsterNym's count): a concentration astrologers read as that sign's themes dominating the chart.
Minor aspects
semi-sextile 30° (orb 2°), semi-square 45° (orb 2°), quintile 72° (orb 1.5°), sesquiquadrate 135° (orb 2°), biquintile 144° (orb 1.5°), quincunx 150° (orb 2.5°). Pairs already in a major aspect are not repeated. Moon excluded without a birth time.
- Venus biquintile Pluto 0.1°
- Neptune semi-square Pluto 0.5°
- Mars quincunx Pluto 2.2°
Houses need a birth time. None is documented for William Safire, so no house placements are claimed for the planets or the minor bodies above.
More people like William
Other writers
- Ted Hughes1930
- Anne Sexton1928
- Barry Unsworth1930
- Philip K. Dick1928
- Gary Snyder1930
- Robert K. Massie1929
Born in United States
- Gene HackmanAmerican actor and novelist
- Murray Gell-MannAmerican physicist
- Buzz AldrinAmerican astronaut
- Barbara WaltersAmerican broadcast journalist
- Tippi HedrenAmerican actress, model and activist
- John Edward MackAmerican psychiatrist
More charts like William’s
Fellow Sagittarius suns
- Nancy MaceAmerican politician (born 1977)
- Chuck SchumerAmerican politician (born 1950)
- Andrew CuomoGovernor of New York from 2011 to 2021
Born in Snake years
- Ben Higginsreality television star
- Shenae GrimesCanadian–American actress
- Blake GriffinAmerican basketball player (born 1989)
Also born on December 17
- Pope Francis1936
- Milla Jovovich1975
- Manny Pacquiao1978
- Sarah Paulson1974
- David Rudisha1988
- Nat Wolff1994
Fellow Yang Fire day masters
- Shaquille O'NealAmerican basketball player
- Alexei AbrikosovSoviet, Russian and American theoretical physicist
- Patrick SwayzeAmerican actor, producer, singer and dancer
Other Sagittarius Snake charts
- Michael OliseFrench footballer (born 2001)
- Sebastian CroftBritish actor
- Tom HulceAmerican actor and producer
- Christopher PlummerCanadian actor
Other Radiant Explorers
- WevertonBrazilian footballer (born 1987)
- Pedro NetoPortuguese footballer (born 2000)
- Jens Petter HaugeNorwegian footballer (born 1999)
- Nico SchlotterbeckGerman association football player
Famous people with Life Path 5
- Elsa LanchesterBritish-American actress
- Holland TaylorAmerican actress
- Kimia HosseiniIranian actress
From the journal: Is astrology real or fake? · Sect: day charts vs night charts
William’s cards
Every card is computed from December 17, 1929, none chosen. Tap one to flip it.
♃ Ruled by Jupiter
Tin Sn
Tap to flip
The working: BaZi pillarsshow
BaZi pillars
Day Master: yang Fire.
Year
己
yin Earth
巳
Snake
Fire
roots & early life
Month
丙
yang Fire
子
Rat
Water
work & drive
Day
day master
丙
yang Fire
申
Monkey
Metal
you & partnership
No birth time is on public record for William Safire, so this chart has three pillars rather than four. The hour pillar, the rising sign and the birth-sky star all need a time, and we would rather leave them out than invent one.
Where this data comes from
William’s birth date and birthplace come from Wikidata Q254983, released under CC0, as do the occupations, works, teams and awards in the biography above. No documented birth time is available, so this chart is rated X on the Rodden scale, the astrological convention for how well evidenced a birth time is. Time-dependent results use a clearly labelled reference time and should not be read as their exact birth chart. Entries are matched to Wikidata by entity id rather than by name, kept only at day precision, and dropped where sources disagree on the date.
Portrait by White House photo by Shealah Craighead., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
The same William Safire at Wikipedia.
Roster last reviewed September 10, 2026. Every entry is checked against its Wikidata record; where a person shares a name with someone else, the entity id is what settles which of them this is. What we will not tell you sets out the claims this site refuses to make.
These are traditional interpretations, not facts or predictions. AsterNym is not affiliated with or endorsed by William Safire.
Quick answers about William Safire’s chart
- What zodiac sign was William Safire?
- William Safire was a Sagittarius: born December 17, 1929, which puts the Sun in Sagittarius for the whole of that day. That is the Western star sign. In the Chinese zodiac they were an Earth Snake.
- What was William Safire's Chinese zodiac animal?
- The Snake, with the Earth element, from the Chinese lunar year of the December 17, 1929 birth.
- What time was William Safire born?
- No reliably documented birth time is public, so AsterNym does not calculate an Ascendant. This chart uses date-only positions: the wheel shows a reference solar chart (the Sun's sign as house 1), and the Ascendant is left uncomputed instead of guessed from an unverified time.
- What was William Safire's Life Path number?
- Life Path 5, calculated in numerology from the December 17, 1929 birth date.
- What was William Safire's Chiron sign?
- Chiron in Taurus at 10°. Position from JPL Horizons for the December 17, 1929 birth date.
- Where was William Safire's Black Moon Lilith?
- Mean Black Moon Lilith in Capricorn at 23°. This is the mean lunar apogee; the osculating Lilith some tables use can sit up to 30° away.
- What was William Safire's dominant planet?
- Jupiter, on AsterNym's dominance score (9 points: rules the Sun sign, Sagittarius; disposes Sun, Venus, Mars; 3 major aspects). Saturn is second and Mercury third. Other sites weight rulerships and aspects differently and can name a different leader.
