On Friday, 22 June 2012, a pair of verdicts were handed down in two high profile sex abuse cases. In Bellefonte, PA, former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse in incidents stemming from sexual contact with 10 boys over a 15-year period. The revelation of his crimes last November led to the resignation of the president of Penn State as well as iconic head coach Joe Paterno, who died several months later.
In Philadelphia, Monsignor William Lynn was convicted of one count of child endangerment for failing to remove abusive priests under his jurisdiction or report them to civil authorities. After 13 days of deliberation, the jury was deadlocked on conspiracy charges. Lynn had been secretary for clergy for the 1.5 million member archdiocese of Philadelphia, under the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who died earlier this year, and had been responsible for shifting predator priests from parish to parish, supposedly for heath reasons. The landmark verdict marks the first time a senior official of the Roman Catholic Church has been found legally responsible in a US court for the sexual abuse which wracked the organization in the 1990s.
Asteroids Jerold, Williams and Lynn were all active in the sky that day, paired with other celestial factors representing sexual abuse, justice and legal proceedings. Asteroid Jerold (#33544, being used here to represent Gerald “Jerry” Sandusky astrologically) at 11 Aries was conjunct Uranus (shocks, revelations) at 8 Aries, squared Pluto (sex, scandal, taboo) at 8 Capricorn, and exactly semisextile centaur Nessus at 26 Aquarius, noted for inappropriate sexual contact, coercion and rape. Jerold was also squared asteroid Ganymed at 18 Cancer, noted for homosexual attraction as well as pedophilic acts, and Nessus was squared asteroid Themis, named for the Greek goddess of justice, at 22 Taurus, bringing an equitable end to this horror story of abuse and betrayal of trust.
Ganymed is itself part of an astrological T-Square with squares to Saturn (legal proceedings, trials, punishments) at 22 Libra conjunct TNO Rhadamanthus (named for a mythic Greek judge of the dead) at 19 Libra, and TNO Eris (named for the Greek goddess of discord) at 22 Aries. Conjunct Ganymed were asteroid Lynn (#4358, for Msgr William Lynn) at 22 Cancer, TNO Varuna (noted for legacies that endure far beyond the life or incident involved) at 23 Cancer, Mercury (ruling deliberations and verdicts) at 25 Cancer, and asteroid Sappho (also connoting gay themes) at 27 Cancer. Sappho is also conjunct asteroid Justitia, named for the Roman goddess of justice, at 1 Leo, representing justice for defendants in both gay-sex-related cases, evoking also the theme of children (Leo-ruled). Themis at 22 Taurus is also exactly inconjunct Saturn.
Asteroid Williams (#1763, for William, Msgr Lynn’s first name) at 21 Gemini is forming an astrological Grand Trine with Nessus and Saturn/Rhadamanthus, and is squared by Mars, also representing sexual activity. The combination of Lynn and Varuna is particularly apt, as this case has the potential to reverberate strongly in future legal actions against enablers of abusive priests.
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 .
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