Troy Davis Executed

On September 21, 2011, the state of Georgia executed Troy Davis, convicted of murder in the 1989 shooting death of off-duty police officer Mark MacPhail. Davis, 42, had always maintained his innocence. His conviction was obtained with no forensic or DNA evidence, based on generic ballistic evidence (Davis possessed a gun of the same caliber as the murder weapon, as did others at the scene) and the testimony of 9 eyewitnesses, 7 of whom later recanted all or part of their testimony. One of the only two witnesses who did not recant was Sylvester “Redd” Coles, who had originally fingered Davis for the murder, and whom Davis maintained was the actual shooter.

Davis’ case had become a cause celebre in liberal circles and the anti-death penalty movement, with pleas for clemency made by former US president Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI, former FBI director William Sessions, Reverend Al Sharpton, and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, among other notables. Nearly a million people worldwide signed a petition to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole, requesting pardon, to no avail. Three prior execution dates had been stayed pending various appeals, but after the US Supreme Court rejected an eleventh-hour intervention, Davis was put to death by lethal injection at 11:08 PM EDT in the state prison in Jackson, Georgia.

Born 9 October 1968, Troy Davis has multiple markers in the birth chart reflecting the facts of the case, and his execution. The Sun at 16 Libra conjoins a Quasar at 15 Libra, indicative of the potential to become well known, notorious, or “famed” in some sense, and opposes natal Saturn at 22 Aries, itself exactly opposed a Black Hole at 22 Libra and conjoined another at 24 Aries, suggesting an adversarial relationship with the law, legal entanglements or proceedings which absorb huge amounts of time and energy and yield little or no results (Davis’ case dragged on, with appeals, for over 20 years from conviction to execution), and a sudden, dramatic demise (Saturn as ancient lord of death). This galactic opposition becomes an exact T-Square with the addition of asteroid Atropos at 22 Cancer, named for the Fate who severs the thread of life at death.

Further markers of death include Pluto, which at 23 Virgo is closely conjoined by Jupiter at 22 Virgo, indicating a judicial (Jupiter) death (Pluto); these sextile natal Neptune at 24 Scorpio (the sign ruling death) and asteroid Karma at 25 Scorpio, suggestive of a case of mistaken or confused (Neptune) identity which is nonetheless somehow fated or predestined (Karma).

Mars, the ruler of violent death and executions, at 11 Virgo conjoins asteroid Jackson (#2193) at 8 Virgo, identifying the scene of the execution (Mars) as Jackson. Asteroid Requiem (the funeral mass for the dead) at 5 Libra conjoins Sisyphus (repetitive, pointless action, endlessly repeated, as seen in the frequent appeals and the three prior attempts at execution) at 3 Libra, Apophis (ancient Egyptian personification of pure evil, apt for the judicial murder of an innocent man) at 1 Libra and Uranus (shootings) at 0 Libra, all these encompassed by the supermassive Black Hole at 1 Libra, promoting an alternate reality (Davis’ misidentification), and a Quasar at 5 Libra, virtually ensuring a high profile or level of public interest and visibility in the case. TNO Ixion at 2 Scorpio, named for the first murderer in Greek mythology, lies in square to asteroid Georgia (#359), the state responsible for his death, at 6 Leo.

Another point of interest is asteroid Admetos, which at 3 Sagittarius lies on a Black Hole and is semisquare the 16 Libra Sun. Admetos was a Greek mythic king who was granted a reprieve from death upon the condition that he found another to take his place. If in fact Troy Davis was innocent of the crime he was executed for, then this myth reverberates in fractured Black Hole alternate reality form with Davis paying the ultimate price for another’s guilt.

Asteroid Davis (#3638) at 28 Taurus in the birth chart is caught in a Galactic Grand Cross, conjoined the Maser (volatility, controversy) at 26 Taurus, opposed the Quasar (notoriety, public notice) at 27 Scorpio and squared two Black Holes (parallel reality, false appearance), at 28 Leo and 27 Aquarius. Transit Davis was active on the three prior scheduled execution dates—on July 17, 2007, Davis at 11 Virgo squared Jupiter (the Greater Benefic) at 10 Sagittarius; on 23 September 2008, Davis at 4 Sagittarius conjoined natal Admetos and squared transit asteroid Karma at 6 Virgo; and on 27 October 2008 Davis at 17 Sagittarius conjoined Venus (the Lesser Benefic) at 10 Sagittarius and was semisextile Jupiter at 16 Capricorn, still squared Karma, now at 19 Virgo. When Troy Davis was finally put to death, asteroid Davis was in a much less tenable position, at 4 Leo being conjunct transit Mars (death, execution) at 1 Leo and exactly inconjunct transit Pluto (also death) at 4 Capricorn, with Mars/Davis also conjunct natal asteroid Georgia at 6 Leo.

A chart set for Jackson, Georgia at the 11:08 PM EDT time of death shows that 10 Sagittarius degree, previously occupied by both Venus and Jupiter at prior scheduled execution dates, prominently displayed as the Ascendant, signaling this as the moment where Davis’ duly ordained fate finally plays out. Conjoined the Ascendant is transit Admetos at 17 Gemini, tightly opposed TNO Ixion at 16 Sagittarius on the 10 Sagittarius Descendant, which is also conjoined transit Georgia at 3 Sagittarius. As such, Georgia exactly conjoins natal Admetos, while Ixion is exactly sextile the natal Sun.

Admetos in the sky is exactly trine transit Saturn (death, the law) at 17 Libra, now just one degree past Davis’ natal Sun and traveling with asteroid Nemesis (retribution, due enactment of vengeance) at 22 Libra, itself exactly opposed natal Saturn at 22 Aries and exactly squared natal Atropos at 22 Cancer, activating the natal Galactic T-Square. The transit Moon at 17 Cancer ties to this exactly by square to transit Saturn, and is also conjoined by transit asteroid Jackson, the place of death, at 18 Cancer. Together, transit Admetos and Saturn form a Grand Trine with transit Damocles, the bringer of doom, at 18 Aquarius on the 21 Aquarius Midheaven.

The transit Sun at 28 Virgo for the execution is exactly trine natal asteroid Davis at 28 Taurus, which is also exactly squared by transit Neptune (dissolution, victim, martyr) at 28 Aquarius. The Sun is about to roll over the natal stellium of Uranus/Apophis/Sisyphus/Requiem, which transit Uranus also opposes from 2 Aries, while in trine to transit Mars/Davis, squared transit Pluto and conjoined natal Chiron at 0 Aries.

We may never know the truth of Troy Davis’ innocence or guilt, but barring definitive DNA or forensic evidence, he certainly deserved a new trial, a commutation to a life sentence, or at a minimum, another stay of execution, pending further review. His case is a stark and barbaric example of the primacy of the verdict over true justice.