Gabrielle Giffords Tragedy

Gabrielle Giffords Tragedy

By Matthew Lauten

Gabrielle Giffords is my Representative and Tucson is my home town, so this tragedy really hit on a personal level. I had driven by the intersection where it occurred one-and-a-half hours prior with my ten year old son, and we were attending an event less than two miles away when we got the word. The event chart itself should be quite revealing, and I also thought it might be interesting to see what house the eclipse several days before fell in a chart set for Tucson, and to look at the Fixed Stars, as many times they can help explain the timing, or “when” of an event.

Several things jumped out at me in the event chart (see below). It has a Pisces Ascendant, thus ruled by Jupiter which happens to be in Pisces and is very tight in its conjunction to Uranus and angular and getting ready to rise in the 1st house. Jupiter is opposite Juno in the 7^th house, part of a Grand Cross as they all square Mercury in Sagittarius (detriment) conjunct North Node in the angular 10^th house and square the South Node in the 4^th house. A sudden tense unexpected big event occurs (angular Grand Cross) on the home turf (South Node in 4^th ;Mercury rules 4th) of someone who’s destiny was to be an alternative leader/speaker in this area (Mercury in detriment conjunct North Node in 10^th; and Jupiter rules 10th) while at a meeting where she partners with her constituents to hear their concerns in detail (Juno in Virgo in the 7^th ;Mercury rules 7^th; Jupiter trine Venus in Sagittarius in 9th). Exalted Mars in Capricorn sextile to Jupiter (the chart ruler), square to Saturn, and trine to Juno gives a lone male in temporary power the opportunity he has been waiting for.

The Moon is almost conjunct the Ascendant to the minute! This indicates to me that a woman in power is the center of this event and the huge effect it had on other people both there and in its aftermath. With the Neptune/Chiron conjunction rising before the Moon and in the 12th house, the results are death, woundings, loss, and the need to have large institutions become involved (hospital, prison, government agencies). Note the Moon also trines the South Node in the 4^th tying it into the Grand Cross the chart ruler is in. The Moon’s semi-square to Mars and Mars square to Saturn indicates the frustration and rage the perpetrator was feeling, and the square to Venus indicates his target.

One last thing to note with Venus and the South Node: they are part of a tight yod pattern with Venus partile sextile Ceres in Aquarius in the 11^th house and both partile quincunx the South Node in the 4^th. Not only do we have the angularity of the Grand Cross and Moon right on ASC sextile Mars to explain the timing of this event, but a yod, which can be described as a hand of fate/destiny: something that one needs to accept they have no control over that has happened, and begin to pick up the pieces/rebuild/adjust from there. Ceres and Venus describe Gabrielle and the event again: Ceres in Aquarius in the 11^th and Venus in Sagittarius in the 9th is a Congresswoman who is progressive in her political philosophy running into fate in her home town doing something she is talented at (South Node in 4^th).

Briefly digressing to the eclipse chart now (see below), we see the eclipse/new moon occurred as part of a big stellium in Capricorn in the 3^rd house when located for Tucson. The stellium includes Pluto and Mars, both possible indicators of violent events; the North Node – destiny involved; and Ceres and Pallas, two of the main female archetypal asteroids: the Mother and the Daughter/Warrior/Champion of ideals. In the 3^rd house, indicates Tucson will feel this event on a very local level, and it will upset all that is familiar in the daily patterns of life like local transportation, local news outlets, and speeches and announcements. Note also the New Moon/Eclipse point squares Saturn in the 12^th, its dispositor, hinting at possible death, loss, and a need for large institutions to be involved.

The stellium of the eclipse chart is mainly in the 11^th house of the event chart except for the Moon which has separated and is no longer part of the stellium, and the North Node and Pluto, which are in the 10^th house. This makes sense too, as it is a female (Ceres, Pallas) member of the Legislature (11^th house) who is cast into the public spotlight due to a fateful, violent event (Pluto & North Node in 10^th) from an angry male (Sun conjunct Mars square Saturn).

All of this is quite revealing, and I could even go deeper into some of the archetypal symbolism that is in the event chart, but it does not explain why it happened then, as far as timing goes. Yes, we have angularity with the Grand Cross pattern and the Moon right on the ASC, but the Grand Cross was angular in Tucson four times that day, and four times a day in the days before and after too, and the Moon moves so quickly, it usually has little to nothing to do with the timing of an event this big in scope. However, in the past few years, some astrologers, including myself and led by Bernadette Brady, have been successfully looking at Fixed Stars parans to help discover the energies that aligned during large events that may help answer this question of timing. Looking at the Fixed Star analysis of this event is literally mind-boggling.

Parans, in effect, are similar to conjunctions but across latitudes instead of longitudes. I could get into a long explanation here, but I’ll defer that now for another article/blog or lecture/class. When looking at parans for events, there is a different approach then when looking for their effects in natal readings. With mundane events, we look at parans to the three outer planets first in order to set the specific archetypal background of that period of time for a given place on Earth. The outer planets, as many of us well know due to their effects in our lives from long term transits to our natal chart, are very “uncaring” for our individual lives. That is, they seem to work according to a plan that is much higher than any single individual’s life and their desires/hopes/dreams/ambitions – indeed, they function on the level of the Collective and what the Collective needs to learn, and individuals end up being their sacrifices in these lessons. That’s why we all shudder to think what that Pluto/Neptune/Uranus hard transit will actually manifest in our life as. However, when the transit ends, we usually see in hindsight that we had to go through these hard times brought to us by Life, in order to learn some valuable lesson to broaden our consciousness/perspective.

In the event chart, we start by looking at significant parans to these three outer planets which are in effect for several months at a time in a specific area/latitude (in Tucson in this case: latitude 32* North). First parans to Uranus, which indicate public opinion and expectations: out of six parans occurring to Uranus at this time in Tucson, three can seen to have a direct link to this event. Acumen, one of the stingers in the tail of Scorpio is culminating as Uranus is rising (on the ASC). Acumen is a dangerous star that speaks of attacks that weaken and combined with Uranus is “small biased attacks on a group.” (this quote and all following quotes come directly from Starlight developed by Bernadette Brady). Uranus is also culminating as Ras Algethi, a star that is in Hercules and is interested in maintaining the natural order of things/life, is setting: “a sudden upset in the political balance of power.” I don’t even have to explain how these two quotes can be associated with this tragic event. The third paran to Uranus I’d like to mention shows how both negative and positive energies mix together in any event. It is Markab setting with Uranus setting: “the reliability and consistency of the common folk.” Here we see how common people helped steady a very chaotic situation by wrestling the perpetrator to the ground, disarming and holding him, and immediately giving first aid to the wounded. A little background on Markab: it is the saddle of the horse in Pegasus and indicates those who can be steady under pressure; those who are normally not leaders, but in pressure situations take steady actions, and through these actions they become inspired leaders for others. After the event is over, they resume their lives as non-leaders, but steady people. If this does not describe the actions of some of the people on the scene succinctly, then I don’t know what does.

Next we look at parans to Neptune to indicate the hopes and fears of the nation in this situation. There are four parans and all are significant but I’ll focus on three here. First we have Neptune rising as Antares is culminating. Antares is one of the four Royal Stars of Persia and it is believed that these four stars have a much more fateful quality than the other stars. It is the heart of the Scorpion and many times bring fame cut from one’s own experiences in life. However, there is the danger that fame will bring danger and the sting/bight of the Scorpion. In a sense, this is Gabrielle Giffords herself: she attained fame and power through her own actions, and she was working an event that was voluntary, not a necessity, and it set her up for a great fall. With Neptune in parans to Antares we get: “Corruption becomes evident.” The second paran to Neptune is Deneb Algedi rising as Neptune is rising: “The justice of the legal system or the law is challenged.”  Deneb Algedi is in Capricorn in the tail of the Sea Goat and speaks of one who is a law giver to the people; one who has balanced view of society and its needs, and thus is looked upon by others to show the way. This is a very apt description of Gabrielle Giffords, a moderate Democrat who was a uniter through her balanced approach to politics. And indeed, this event challenges the very system she represents. The final paran to Neptune to look at is Mirfak culminating as Neptune is setting: “The spiritual warrior, or the fallen…hero.” Mirfak is in Perseus, the Hero, and indicates young male energy that is strong and proud, but not wise. How descriptive of our perpetrator again! Both sides of Mirfak’s archetype are seen here: the male warrior and the fallen hero.  

Finally we look at Pluto’s parans, and there are six of them that associate with the Lord of the Underworld in this event. The first is Murzims, the Announcer, both culminating and on the nadir as Pluto is on the nadir and culminating: “The words of one person, or a seemingly small event, has very powerful consequences.” Once again, a very apt description of what was seemingly a small event becoming something heard around the world. Then we get our second Royal Star involved: Fomalhaut rising as Pluto is culminating: “Dreams or follies, idealism abounds.” Once again Fomalhaut is a star of fate – of events on Earth that seem to have their origin/purpose from somewhere beyond the world we see with our senses. It gives charisma and a vision. Sometimes this vision is used to benefit all for moral purposes; sometimes it is twisted and is only self-serving and amoral. We can see both the main victim and the perpetrator are both driven by this energy but from the two opposing poles it represents. Next we have Canopus both culminating and on the nadir as Pluto is on the nadir and culminating: “Change of an establishment leader.” Canopus is the great Mariner and is one who leads others into new territories. Next is one of the most dangerous stars: Facies setting as Pluto is setting: “The end of one era and the beginning of another.” I will get more into the archetype of Facies in a bit as it is the key star in this situation for other reasons, but to suffice to say, this event will reshape the way politics is done in this country for better or worse. Next comes Diadem, the Woman’s Crown, and a star of great sacrifice. It is rising as Pluto is on the nadir: “A lone sacrifice that can change a nation.” (No, I’m not making this up, but some of these descriptions are so accurate it is surreal!) Diadem speaks of the person who works behind the scenes with no desire for fame in order to help the masses/the common people. This is Gabrielle’s approach to politics, and she became that sacrifice (that will hopefully change an embittered nation.) Last, we have the other stinger in the tail of the Scorpion, Aculeus rising as Pluto is rising: “Savage attack on a person or group.” Aculeus, once again like Acumen, speaks of attacks, but they are attacks that one can build strength and learn about endurance from. Gabrielle is going to survive this attack and endure, as is our nation.

The second thing to look at in a fixed star analysis is the annual themes associated at this latitude every year. I knew from being a native of Tucson, that whenever we enter a new calendar year, our Heliacal Rising Star for the 1^st two weeks of January is Facies. Facies is the Face of the Archer in Sagittarius and is considered one of the most violent, ruthless stars in the sky: think focused cruelty here. The Heliacal Rising star is the star on the dawn horizon this time of year every year for this latitude. Facies as a heliacal rising star is: “The shadow of war, the darkness of cruelty or aggression.” You may ask why is it thought of this way? The answer goes back to the ancient Greeks and the invention of the bow and arrow as a weapon of war. Up until that point, all combat was hand to hand, and one had to look into the eyes of those you were battling. There was a code of honor that governed war that was extended out to your enemy. When the bow and arrow was invented it shattered this code, for humanity had its first weapon that could kill from a distance without any way to see who you were killing. It was indiscriminate killing with no honor. According to written records, the archers were so despised that when battles ended and prisoners were taken, all archers were summarily executed for their dishonorable ways, whereas the other warriors were allowed to live (albeit many times as slaves). The gun as a weapon of choice has ratched up this indiscriminate killing to an even more dishonorable level. If our perpetrator wasn’t so obviously insane, he would definitely get the death penalty for this heinous deed, and I believe it’s still possible he may in order for this archetype to come full circle. I need to stress at this point however that Facies is the heliacal rising star for all of 32* North across the whole globe this time of year, so the background potential energy is there, but it is not the cause that spurs something like this. Other factors must gather for something like this to occur. The Sun is the one planet (luminary) that is also always in the same place in the sky this time of year, and thus looking at parans to the Sun also set the rest of the background. There are two worth mentioning here: Sun rising as Thuban is culminating: “A national treasure is receiving attention.” There are two other points to make about this: first Thuban is circumpolar: that is, it does not rise or set since it is so far north in our skies from Tucson. This indicates once again the hand of fate dictates events from the heavens much like the outer planets that care little for individual lives it affects, for it has a bigger lesson for the Collective. Also, Thuban is in the is the Dargon or Draco, and speaks of one who has serious issues with the rest of society – someone who hides out, has secrets, is anti-social, hoards things – this is a good description of the perpetrator again. One other paran to the Sun worth mentioning: Al Rescha on the nadir as the Sun is rising: “A person who unites or polarizes.” We have both in this single event. Al Rescha is the knot that ties the two fish together in Pisces and reminds us that there is a little bit of us in both of these people.

Now we can look at the last planets, the inners mainly, and get more precise timing, as they move so quickly that these themes were only in effect for a day or a few at most, and will not be aligned exactly like this over Tucson ever again. The Moon represents the emotions of the people in reaction to the event. Remember, we already saw the Moon was right on the ASC in the event chart, which I believe is one of the significators of Giffords in the event chart. There are two parans to the Moon at this exact time: Moon on nadir with Altair on nadir: “Emotionally moved by acts of courage.” Altair, in the Eagle, is one who takes action that benefits both self and others. Think of those who stopped the perpetrator and how this fits them. Then we also have Rukbat culminating as the Moon is culminating: “Calmness, the need to be emotionally steady.” These are both fitting for the emotional reactions of the public here in Tucson after this event.

There is one paran to Mercury I’d like to mention. Mercury shows the reactions of the media and business to the event. Mercury is on the nadir as El Nath is culminating: “One who speaks out, abrasive language or speeches.” We saw this in the initial press conference following the event when the sheriff of Pima County spoke out against the vitriol and poisonous political atmosphere here in Arizona and the USA, and we continue to see it being played out in the press as the Left accuses the Right of spurring people on to take drastic measures against those they perceive as the enemy. El Nath is in the horns of the Bull (Taurus) and speaks of those who use weapons (in this case words) to destroy and/or create.

As I mentioned earlier, Mars seems to be key in events like this, and we saw how it affected the event chart. It has one paran also: it is on the nadir as Castor is culminating: “The person with a plan.” As more and more of the background of the perpetrator is discovered, we see he had a well thought out plan that may have been in the making for years.

Parans to Jupiter show what types of actions would be favorable in response to an event like this. I’ll mention just two of five here. First we have Jupiter culminating as Ras Algethi (see above for description of Ras Algethi archetype) is setting: “The need to restore balance, the need to fill a power vacuum.” And second we have Jupiter setting as Markab (see above for description of Markab archetype) is setting: “The wise person, the need for consistency in the law.” Jupiter is one of the two social planets and I believe it is trying to tell us how we as a society need to react to this event. We must not overreact. We must give due process to the law. Society in the USA has been seriously imbalanced since the 1980’s by people who are out on the streets because the funding for mental health diagnosis and subsequent action/intervention was taken away. We need to restore this funding for intervention so that people like our perpetrator can be reported on by other adults and get the help they need in order to stop events like this before they can occur. One can not help but think if the resources had been available, Pima Community College police would have been able to intervene and help this person out long ago.

The last planet to look at is Saturn, which represents the Law and civic order in events. It has only one paran: it’s setting as Algol is rising: “The law needing to concern itself with the harder issues.” Algol is the head of the Gorgon and speaks of female/yin/receptive energy being angered by the inequality it faces in a patriarchal society. Indeed, many of our laws may need to be re-assessed in wake of this terrible tragedy.

Let’s get a bit visual now too in order to tie the stars into the planetary motions at the time. We know we have a stellium that includes not only the eclipse point and Sun, but also Pluto and Mars and the North Node (and also Ceres and Pallas). The Nodal axis and Mars seem to have much to do with events actually occurring. We have also gone over the archetype of Sagittarius and Facies, the Face of the archer, in detail above. Many of you are aware of precession of the equinox and why the planets astrologically are not necessarily in the sign they are actually in astronomically. When we look at the physical sky of the event, what one finds is that the whole stellium, including Mars and Pluto and the North Node are all within the stars of the archer! Pluto and Mars speak of violent events; Mars and the nodal axis tie into events moving from potentiality to manifested physical reality; eclipse points speak of turning point events – and all of these are cradled within the Archer in the physical sky! This definitely in my mind re-enforces the timing of why this happened then.

We have a good reading on why this all happened now, but we can still look at one more chart to get an understanding of the timing in relation to the planets positions at the time. Like, I mentioned before, the Heliacal Rising star will change every two weeks or so for a given latitude, and the outer planets aspects, and Mars and the Nodes are all key in timing. If we look at the chart for the moment when Facies became the Heliacal rising star, these planetary positions should be in key/angular places. The moment that Facies became the Heliacal Rising Star in Tucson was December 31, 2010 at 7:29 AM MST. (see chart below). Immediately, we see the stellium straddles the Ascendant, the most key point in the whole chart where the potentiality of the astrological energy in the sky becomes physically manifest on Earth! Pluto is closest to it, quickly followed by the Sun, eclipse point, and Mars. The North Node is above the horizon in the 12^th house. This is the final confirmation we need to see why this happened when it did. The time was ripe, the perfect storm, etc – call it what you will. Could an astrologer have warned Gabrielle Giffords of the possibility of this event occurring? The potentiality is there for sure, as are a number of other possible manifestations of this potent energy. We would have to look at her personal transits, etc too – beyond the scope of this article. But, in hindsight, we can see how the archetypes worked together and brought this event to us through different individuals here on Earth at this time and place. Indeed, this event can broadly be put into the whole Uranus/Pluto square archetype that is just beginning and will be affecting the Earth until 2015. I also have a chart for Tucson’s founding and some of the transits Tucson, as a city, is having during this time are: Saturn opposite Chiron, Chiron at mid-point of ASC and M/C, Neptune opposite Sun, eclipse of 12/21/10 conjunct Moon, Chiron opposite Sun, eclipse of 1/4/11 square Venus/ASC, Uranus square Moon and quincunx Sun, Pluto square Saturn, secondary progressed Mercury square the ASC. This is enough info for another whole article!

In closing, I’d like to share one of my favorite inspiring quotes that I like to read daily before I go out into the world:

“When you read a book, it’s the last chapter that’s most important. What happened in the past is gone now. Just try and do your best each day. Be a kind person each day. That’s all that matters.” – L. Tillis

May we make the last chapter of this story worthy of those who were killed, injured, and helped others in this tragedy.