Black Hole Case Study: Penn State Sex Scandal

On November 4, 2011, former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was indicted on 40 counts of sexual abuse of 8 underage boys. As the story developed, it emerged that allegations and eyewitness accounts of the abuse had surfaced as early as 1998, but were ignored or soft-pedaled by Penn State and local law enforcement officials.

Despite the accusations, after retirement in 1999 Sandusky was allowed access to Penn State athletic facilities as late as 2009. Although head coach Joe Paterno was aware of the situation, he did nothing more than inform the head of the athletic department. In the scramble to preserve some shred of Penn State’s reputation in the wake of the indictment, on November 9 both the revered, 84-year-old Paterno and Graham Spanier, president of the university, were fired by the Penn State Board of Trustees.

The Grand Jury indictment came after a three-year investigation into alleged sex crimes committed by Sandusky between 1994 and 2009, involving at least 8 boys as young as ten years old. That investigation stemmed from a police report made in 2009, alleging a prolonged, four-year-long abuse of a boy, beginning at age 11. The investigation was subsequently widened to include seven other boys.

Initial, abortive investigations in 1998 were the result of accusations made that Sandusky had showered with and “inappropriately touched” a ten-year-old boy in the Penn State showers, allegedly admitted by Sandusky to the boy’s mother when she confronted him in a phone conversation. A complaint to the local DA brought no action—the victim’s mother informed that there was not enough evidence to charge Sandusky. That child, and most of the others Sandusky is accused of molesting, first came in contact with him through The Second Mile, a charity founded by Sandusky in 1977 to intervene with at-risk youth.

In 2002, the indictment alleges that Sandusky was interrupted in the Penn State locker room by a graduate assistant, in the act of anal intercourse with a ten-year-old boy. The assistant reported the incident to head Coach Paterno, who informed Tim Curley, head of the athletic department. The authorities were never notified, and the only action taken by the university, with the approval of the president, was to order Sandusky not to bring any more boys from The Second Mile onto campus. He was allowed to continue running a summer camp for boys from 4th through 12th grades at a Penn State satellite campus near Erie, Pennsylvania, until 2008, and retained his office as coach emeritus at the main campus. In 2010, as the investigation against him proceeded, Sandusky resigned from The Second Mile.

After the indictment was released, Sandusky was arrested the following day. Paterno quickly came under fire for not following up on the allegations, and allowing Sandusky to retain his relationship with the Penn State football program. On the afternoon of November 9, Paterno announced that he would resign as head coach at the end of the 2011 season, but that evening the Board of Trustees intervened and fired both him and university president Graham Spanier.

Sandusky, who is married and has six adopted children, is currently free on $100,000 bail pending trial. If convicted, he faces life imprisonment. Athletic director Tim Curley and senior VP Gary Schultz, who oversaw the Penn State police department, have been charged with making false statements to the Grand Jury.

Astrology reveals that Gerald “Jerry” Sandusky, born 26 January 1944, has several celestial markers which clearly point to an attraction for youths, as well as to homosexual behaviors. The Sun at 5 Aquarius closely conjoins a Black Hole at 4 Aquarius, and is tied to a Grand Trine of natal Uranus at 4 Gemini conjunct Mars and a Maser at 6 Gemini, and Neptune at 4 Libra conjunct a Quasar at 5 Libra.

Sun/Black Hole individuals often lead second lives, with hidden, sometimes shocking elements unknown to most of their intimates. The Black Hole nature is also compulsive and demanding, tending toward addictive behaviors, and these natives can be magnetic and compelling, easily attracting others into their orbits, for good or ill.

In many cases, the face they present to others is a mask or disguise, something facilitated in this instance by the close trine to Neptune, which promotes falseness and duplicity. Neptune can confuse and obfuscate the issue, casting a cloud of uncertainty or a protective screen around the individual’s activities, but its conjunction with the Quasar, among the brightest objects in the universe, virtually guarantees that at some point, the deception will be exposed, the sins brought to light and displayed in a highly public manner. The astrological Sun/Neptune connection here also speaks to the establishment of the charity, Neptune-ruled, and a highly visible (Quasar) component of Sandusky’s public image (Sun).

The astrological combination of Mars, Uranus and a Maser can be devastating. Mars linked with any outer planet can be a signal of unusual sexual expression or orientation, and is often found in the charts of homosexual or bisexual persons, but with Uranus linked here in particular, the manifestation is likely to be highly unorthodox, eccentric, and possibly violent, as indicated by the extreme youth of Sandusky’s alleged victims as well as the quality of coercion or force described by them. The Maser lends a quality of volatility to the combination, and increases the controversial nature of the acts.

An attraction for underage partners is foretold specifically by several factors, including a conjunction of Mercury (youths) at 11 Capricorn with asteroids Eros (erotic passion, often channeled specifically into homosexual outlets) at 16 Capricorn and Apophis (named for the ancient Egyptian deity personifying pure evil) at 16 Capricorn. This is a powerfully destructive combination, allowing for an intense erotic attraction for youths allied to a capacity for performing acts which most would consider inconceivably evil, but which generate extreme sexual arousal in the native. All these points were activated by the Solar Eclipse of 4 January 2011 at 13 Capricorn, falling shortly after the Grand Jury investigating Sandusky was empaneled in December 2010.

Natal Venus at 28 Sagittarius falls on a Pulsar, a deep space anomaly connected to information retrieval and dissemination which often indicates excessive media involvement, and is within orb of both asteroid Karma, representing paying for one’s prior actions, at 27 Sagittarius and the Galactic Center at 26 Sagittarius, signaling widespread or universal notice and attention. These are all squared by asteroid Ganymed at 24 Virgo, named for Zeus’ underage male cupbearer and lover, a second indicator of sexual attraction for vastly younger, prepubescent partners.

Asteroid Child at 15 Pisces is yet a third factor suggestive of a pedophile persuasion, as it is conjoined both asteroid Lust at 21 Pisces and TNO Chaos at 19 Pisces, foreshadowing the disorder and disintegration of so many lives as a result of Sandusky’s actions. Child is exactly semisextile asteroid Jerold (#33544, for Gerald “Jerry” Sandusky), linking to Sandusky in a very personal way, and the stellium squares natal Saturn at 20 Gemini, suggesting that law enforcement may become involved at some point.

Asteroid Sappho, named for a famous Greek lesbian poet and often active in the charts of homosexuals, appears at 23 Scorpio, sextile Ganymed and semisextile Venus, where it is conjoined by asteroid Pandora at 27 Scorpio, representing the unleashing of a hail of troubles via an attraction or relationship (Venus) of a homosexual nature (Sappho/Ganymed), involving underage partners (Ganymed).

Several points which euphemistically represent the penis are also prominent in Sandusky’s nativity. Asteroid Dick at 0 Taurus conjoins centaur Nessus at 3 Taurus, a celestial marker representing inappropriate sexual activity, named for a mythic figure who attempted to rape Heracles’ wife. These both square the 5 Aquarius Sun, indicating their centrality to Sandusky’s essential nature, and oppose asteroid Jose at 3 Scorpio, forming a T-Square and bringing the unfortunate Joe Paterno into the mix (Jose as Spanish for “Joseph”). Asteroids Pecker at 3 Aries and Wiener at 4 Aries conjoin TNO Typhon at 2 Aries, representing the powerful storm (Typhon, a Greek Titan from whose name we derive the term “typhoon”) released by the indictment, and all points oppose natal Neptune at 4 Libra, suggestive of some hidden or disguised (Neptune) sexual (Pecker/Wiener) agenda.

When Sandusky was indicted on November 4, the Sun at 11 Scorpio was squared the Black Hole at 12 Aquarius, indicating major reversal to come and the exposure of an alternate reality previously kept hidden. The Sun is also exactly sextile Sandusky’s natal Mercury at 11 Capricorn, reflecting the focus on his interactions with youths; asteroid Jerold was on their exact midpoint at 11 Sagittarius, semisextile each. Transit asteroid Apophis at 27 Sagittarius was an exact match for Sandusky’s natal Karma, bringing retribution (Karma) for his evil acts (Apophis), and conjoining natal Venus (attractions, intimate relations) at 28 Sagittarius, which is an exact match for Joe Paterno’s Sun (born 21 December 1926).

Transit asteroid Pandora at 24 Virgo falls exactly on natal Ganymed, and squares both natal Venus/Karma and transit Apophis. A transit pairing of Mercury and Venus exactly conjunct at 2 Sagittarius reiterates the overarching theme of attraction (Venus) for minors (Mercury), and opposes both transit asteroid Lust at 1 Gemini and transit Dick at 3 Gemini, as well as Sandusky’s natal Mars/Uranus conjunction at 6 and 4 Gemini.

Transit asteroid Child at 15 Capricorn has just reignited the January 2011 Solar Eclipse degree and conjoins Sandusky’s natal Mercury/Apophis/Eros stellium. Child is also exactly squared Sandusky’s natal asteroid Jerold at 15 Aries. Transit Damocles (the unseen doom hanging overhead) and Nessus (inappropriate sexual acts) have been running together for months, and at 17 and 19 Aquarius are now conjoined Sandusky’s natal asteroid Aristaeus at 18 Aquarius, named for another mythic sexual offender, who attempted to rape Orpheus’ wife Eurydice, who in fleeing his advances trod upon a serpent and expired. Transit Neptune at 28 Aquarius is exactly conjoined a Black Hole and exactly sextile Sandusky’s natal Venus, finally exposing the decades-long deception it helped to support, in typical Black Hole reversal fashion.

Transit Uranus at 1 Aries has been crisscrossing Sandusky’s natal Typhon/Pecker/Wiener stellium throughout 2011, and is exactly sextile transit asteroid Lust at 1 Gemini, bringing the shocking revelations (Uranus) of Sandusky’s sexual exploits (Lust, Pecker, Wiener).

Transit Ganymed at 2 Taurus is conjoined transit Jupiter (reputation, notoriety) at 4 Taurus, these points conjoined Sandusky’s natal Dick/Nessus and squared his 5 Aquarius Sun, with Ganymed further exactly inconjunct transit Mercury/Venus.

Transit TNO Chaos and asteroid Sappho conjoin from 14 and 18 Gemini, with Sappho exactly trined Sandusky’s natal Aristaeus and closing in on natal Saturn (the law, punishment) at 20 Gemini.

Transit asteroids Eros and Pecker conjoin at 19 and 21 Cancer, squaring transit Saturn at 23 Libra, with transit Eros opposing natal Eros at 17 Capricorn. Transit Mars at 26 Leo has just conjoined Sandusky’s natal Jupiter (reputation) at 24 Leo, indicating the devastating plummet in his public image due to sexual conduct, while trine natal Venus/Karma at 28/27 Sagittarius.

Sandusky released an autobiography in 2001, the now all-too-aptly-named “Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story”, and is getting what’s coming to him, being justly reviled for his acts.

The case against Joe Paterno, caught in the web of his former assistant coach’s deceptions and criminality, is less clear-cut, but foreshadowed astrologically by the exact Venus/Mercury conjunction at 2 Sagittarius when the indictment was handed down, which exactly conjoins Paterno’s natal Saturn, ruling career.

By the time Paterno was formally fired on November 9, that transit conjunction had proceeded to 8 Sagittarius, just one degree shy of Paterno’s natal Mercury, signaling an end to his mentoring, coaching role (Mercury). Asteroid Jerold falls at 19 Capricorn in Paterno’s chart, semisquare to Saturn and opposing his natal Pluto (personal power, abuse, scandal) at 15 Cancer, with transit asteroid Child at 17 Capricorn for the firing, in conjunction with natal Jerold and confirming the nature of Sandusky’s offenses and their impact on Paterno’s career and power. An unfortunate end to a stellar career spanning five decades.

Alex Miller

Alex Miller is a professional writer and astrologer, whose website AlexAsteroidAstrology.com offers a trove of info on the role of asteroids in personal and mundane astrology. He is the author of The Black Hole Book (available on Amazon.com) and The Urban Wicca, former editor of “The Galactic Calendar,” and past president of The Philadelphia Astrological Society. His pioneering work with Black Holes in astrological interpretation began in 1991, when his progressed Sun unwittingly fell into one. Alex’s books and writings are available on his website. Alex can also be reached for comment or services at .