Analyses of the Washington, D.C.
Area Sniper Attacks for October 2-11, 2002
This week we take a break from
Electional Astrology, Astrological Magic and
Astrological Talismans and turn to
Event Charts. Event charts are judged using rules
similar to Horary Astrology. Horary astrology typically begins with the
time of the birth of a question, rather than the birth of a person and judges the answer
to the question from a chart of the time of its asking. It is also possible to judge
the outcome of events from the chart of their occurence. You can take a look at
another example of the analyses of death charts at
Chandra Levy Death Prediction.
Let us begin by looking at event charts for the shootings
attributed to the sniper to date. What is striking about these charts is the
prominence of Venus.
We note that the following charts have Venus as the
ruler of the Ascendant:
Libra rising
10/3/02 7:41 am
10/3/02 8:12 am
10/3/02 8:37 am
10/7/02 8:09 am
Taurus rising
10/9/02 8:18 pm
We note that Venus is conjunct the Ascendant
for the following charts:
10/3/02 9:58 am
10/11/02 9:35 am
Thus there are only two charts in which Venus
is not either the ruler of the Ascendant nor conjunct the Ascendant.
In the
10/2/02 6:04 pm chart Venus is in the 8th, the house of death.
The 10/3/02
9:20 pm chart is the only one without any signficant connection to Venus. It
is also anomalous in that the shooting took place in Washington, D.C. and not
in the surrounding suburbs.
Generally when looking at event charts for a
death, see Chandra Levy Example,
is to take the Ascendant as the providing information about the victim.
However, in this series of charts it is Venus
that ties the charts together and it is Venus ruling the Ascendant that
accounts for five charts.
It is unlikely that the sniper is consciously picking
times when Venus is prominent. Under the philosophy espoused by Renaissance
astrologers the Heavens control the body and emotions, thus the sniper is unconsciously
impelled to shoot at these times.
So in this set of charts we will provisionally take
Venus as the significator of the sniper (or snipers! more on this later).
Venus in this set of charts is in her detriment,
Scorpio, but is also dignified by triplicity and term. Simultaneously dignified and
afflicted by essential dignity, she has been slowing down, gone stationary, and then
retrograde.
The Italian astrologer Guido Bonatti
notes that being stationary and
retrograde indicates, "mischief, damage, discord, contradiction and going
backward with damage..." Aphorism 25.
Certainly Scorpio is an appropriate sign as it is
one of the signs of violent malefic Mars
, but violence of a more secret and
indirect type.
The astrologer
William Lilly says that
Scorpio, "doth represent subtill, deceitfull men." Christian Astrology, page 97.
One of the interesting things about the four charts with
Libra rising is that when Libra is rising, Taurus is on the cusp of the 8th house of
death, making Venus the ruler of the 8th of death. Quite appropriate!
The most obvious factor that is associated with Venus
in this series of charts is the fact that is is conjunct the fixed star star,
Zuben Elgenubi, the South Scale or Southern Claws of the Scorpion.
This star has a very evil reputation.
Lilly lists it (under chelae "claws") as a star indicating violent death.
Christian Astrology, page 644.
Ptolemy says that it is of the nature of Saturn and Mars,
both malefic planets. Tetrabiblos Book I, Chapter 9 (Loeb) page 51.
Vivian Robson says it causes, "malevolence, obstruction,
an unforgiving character, violence, disease, lying, crime, disgrace and danger of
poison. The Fixed Stars & Constellations in Astrology, page 205.
Robson goes on to say that when conjunct Venus, the South
Scale is, "[b]ad for marriage, sudden and secret death, may be poisoned owing to
jealousy of one of own sex." Fixed Stars, page 205.
If we take Venus to be the significator of the sniper, then
we have some interesting results. Firstly, using Lilly rules for thieves, we note that
Venus is in a prolific sign, Scorpio, which indicates more than one participant in
the shootings. Christian Astrology, page 339.
Lilly also uses a comparison of the gender of the
sign on the Ascendant and hour ruler to determine the gender of the thieves. In
this set of charts the indications are mixed:
Four charts have masculine rising sign and hour ruler
Two charts have a feminine rising sign and masculine hour ruler
One chart has a masculine rising sign and feminine hour ruler
Three charts have a feminine rising sign and hour ruler.
Lilly says that this combination of genders
means, "...there were two Theeves, both a Man and a Woman." Christian Astrology,
page 338 (additional reference on page 339).
We note that the Color of Venus
is white. Christian Astrology, page 75, and there have been reports of the
sniper(s) riding in a white van or truck.
Finally Venus in Scorpio gives us a hint of some sort of
sexual connection to these shootings. See, e.g.
Election for Lust & Lechery.
While Venus dignified signifies love, Venus
afflicted indicates a person (or persons), "Riotous, Expensive,
wholly given to Loosenesse and
Lewd companies of Women, nothing regarding his Reputation, coveting unlawful
Beds, Incestuous, an Adulterer..." Christian Astrology, page 74.
