Image by Shirien.Creates / Instagram
On Monday the 25th of May 2020, at 8:08 PM, in the city of Minneapolis, two police officers arrived at a scene, where a shop assistant had made an emergency call about a man using a suspected counterfeit bill.
The Police proceeded to pull a weapon on George Floyd in the process of arresting him. Two more police arrived at the scene, one of these being the officer who held Floyd down with his knee on his neck. Around 8:27 Floyd appeared to fall unconscious or actually die.
The following is the Astrology of this event. At 8:08 PM the degree rising over the eastern horizon in Minneapolis was 28Scorpio50. Scorpio is the sign that rules death, Pluto is the ruling planet of Scorpio, so Pluto is the ruling planet of this horoscope. Pluto is named after the Roman version of the Greek God Hades who ruled the Underworld, the place to where the dead were taken in Greek Mythology. Because this is a death horoscope, the 8th House that rules death becomes the major focus. The ancient Greek astrologers believed every horoscope contained an “Anareta”, which translates to “the taker of life”. For them, any planet that fell in the 8th House was the Anareta, and if the 8th House was empty, the ruler of the 8th House would be the Anareta. In this chart the Moon was not only in the 8th House, but was also the ruler of the 8th House, which makes the Moon a very powerful “taker of life”. The Moon was at 13Cancer55 in an exact 135deg aspect to the Rising degree (the Ascendant), connecting the “taker of life” with Pluto the chart ruler. The Moon was also in a 120deg aspect to the Part of Death at 15Scorpio33. The Part of Death is one of a large number of Parts that were created by the Persian astrologers in the Middle Ages. They are created by adding and subtracting positions of planets to and from the Ascendant.
Pluto in the chart was at 24Capricorn47, in a 45deg aspect to Mars at 8Pisces43, a 75deg aspect to Chiron at 8Aries32 and a 105deg aspect to Uranus at 8Taurus15. This is an unusual and powerful planetary pattern, especially since it places Chiron at the Mars/Uranus midpoint.
Reinhold Ebertin describes the principle of the Mars/Uranus midpoint as, “A sudden application of effort, an intervention in the body (an operation)”. Chiron, the asteroid named after the Greek God Centaur known as the wounded-healer, would imply that the intervention in the body was either a wounding or healing one. In this case definitely a wounding intervention. Ebertin describes the sociological correspondence of the Mars/Uranus midpoint as, “Violent people, fighters for freedom, revolutionaries”. He describes the possible manifestations of this midpoint as, “The passing of a test of nerves, a struggle for survival, an accident, an injury, an operation”.
With Pluto involved, “Force, violent interventions, Higher Power”.
Another strong death indicator in the horoscope is the Mars/Saturn midpoint. In traditional astrology Mars and Saturn were known as the “Malefics” of the solar system and the causes of death are usually malefic. In this chart the Sun at 5Gemini16 was in a 105deg aspect to the Mars/Saturn midpoint at 20Aquarius15. Interesting to note here that the sign Gemini rules the lungs, which connects the cause of death (Mars/Saturn) to the lungs (Sun in Gemini). The planets Mercury and Venus were also in Gemini. Gemini also rules communication and language and interestingly from this perspective, that Floyd’s cries of, “I can’t breathe” have become the logo for the protests that have followed his death.
I will now return to the Parts and how they impact this reading. At 8:08 when the police arrived at this scene the midpoint of the Ascendant and Midheaven, which are the two most time sensitive points in the horoscope was at 22Libra47, this point was conjunct the Part of Surgery, Police and Armies at 21Libra53.
The Part of Tragedy and Fatality at 25Cancer21 (in the 8th House) was in a 180deg aspect to the Jupiter/Pluto midpoint. Ebertin describes the principle of this point as, “The desire for power”. A probable manifestation as, “conflicts with authorities”. Thus a conflict with authority led to the tragic fatality of George Floyd.
Since George Floyd’s tragic death, there has been a massive response from the public to the endless injustices suffered by African-Americans and to the Institutionalised Racism that still exists in America. There are 3 Parts that refer to these themes, the Part of Slaves, the Part of Bondage and Slavery and the Part of Race and Race Consciousness.
Most countries have a horoscope that usually dates back to the writing of their Constitution, the US horoscope is for July 4th 1776. These 3 Parts in the US horoscope were all impacted by the planets at the time of George Floyd’s death.
The Sun in the US chart is at 13Cancer19, the Part of Slaves in the US chart is at 15Cancer20, which shows us that the identity (the Sun) of the US is inextricably bonded to the Part of Slaves. Remember that the Moon at the time of George Floyd’s death was at 13Cancer55, conjunct these two prominent points in the US chart.
The Part of Race and Race Consciousness in the US chart is at 11Capricorn59, which is also in a close 180deg opposition to the Sun in the US chart. On the night of Floyd’s death the planet Jupiter was at 27Capricorn02 in an exact 15deg aspect with this Part of Race in the US chart and at the same time in a 165deg aspect to the Sun in the US chart. Jupiter is known as the planet of good fortune and expansion and is one of the traditional “Benefics” of the solar system. The overwhelming response to George Floyd’s death could well be described by these two Jupiter aspects.
The Part of Bondage and Slavery is probably the most dramatic part of this story. In the US chart, this Part is at 24Aries45 and in the chart of Floyd’s death, the ruling planet Pluto is at 24Capricorn47 in an exact 90deg square aspect with this Part of Bondage and Slavery. In astrology the square aspect between two points is the most challenging and difficult aspect.
Pluto has strong associations with death and destruction, but it is also the planet of transformation that I associate with the snake and scorpion shedding their skins, in order to be able to keep growing and evolving. Whenever Pluto transits a point in the chart, something related to that point needs to be shed or destroyed. When the American Civil War began Pluto was in a 15deg aspect to the Part of Bondage and Slavery and yes there was enormous death and destruction but it did end with the abolition of actual slavery. This current Pluto transit to the Part of Bondage and Slavery has been triggered by the death of George Floyd and will hopefully lead to the shedding of the skin of inequality that the African-American people have lived with for far too long.