Astrology of the Boston Marathon Bombing

On Monday, 15 April 2013, Patriots’ Day in Massachusetts, the 117th running of the Boston Marathon came to a violent end with the explosion of two bombs near the finish line. The bombs, just a block apart, went off within 12 seconds of each other, killing 3 and wounding more than 170 others, whose injuries included numerous amputations. Within three days, local department store surveillance video allowed authorities to hone in on two suspects, later identified as brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, aged 26 and 19, observed depositing satchels and backpacks that contained the explosives.

Aware after the release of their photos that their capture was just a matter of time, the brothers, Chechen natives but legal residents of the US, set off on a violent spree Thursday night that left one dead and the other seriously wounded. Before their rampage was over the Tsarnaevs had robbed a 7-11, killed an MIT campus policeman, car-jacked a Mercedes SUV, and led police on a high-speed chase and into a violent firefight involving both guns and incendiary devices, seriously wounding a Watertown, Massachusetts police officer.

The elder Tsarnaev was killed in the confrontation, but the younger brother escaped. All day Friday nearly a million residents of the Boston area were asked to remain indoors, as the city went on virtual lockdown while the manhunt ensued. Businesses and schools closed, public transit was shut down, but it was not until the house arrest order was lifted that a Watertown resident found bloody markings on a boat he had parked on his property. He alerted police, who found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev inside, exhausted, unarmed and badly wounded. He has been unable to speak due to a serious neck injury, but was cooperating with authorities with head nods and written answers. The citywide shutdown is estimated to have cost the local economy a quarter billion dollars.

A chart cast for the detonation of the first bomb at 2:50 PM EDT in Boston on 4/15/13 casts much light on the events, and in comparison with personal-named asteroids representing the suspects, the victims and the locale, as well as the natal charts of the parties involved, shows yet again how celestial timing and terrestrial events operate in synchronous fashion to produce the world we live in.

In any event chart of this type, timing is crucial, bringing together the separate strands of reality into a woven tapestry depicting the event itself. And the most time-sensitive points of any chart are the angles, representing the rising and setting points on the horizon (astrologically, known as the Ascendant and Descendant), the zenith, or point of highest elevation (the Midheaven or MC), and the nadir (the IC), exactly opposite the zenith. These degrees change every four minutes, allowing for startling specificity and a very narrow window of opportunity for these factors to mesh seamlessly into a manifestation in the space-time of reality as we know it.

In this instance, points active on the angles form a breathtaking overview of the facts in the case, with some stunningly accurate asteroid placements taking prominence on the stage. The bombing took place in Boston on Patriots’ Day, at the Boston Marathon, the oldest such race in the world and an international event garnering global attention and notice. This is ably depicted by asteroid Marathon (#4356) at 25 Taurus, conjoined the 27 Taurus MC, the point defining public awareness and notice, the (literal) zenith of our aspirations.

Asteroid Patria (#1347), named for the fatherland and the Latin root of our word “patriot”, appears at 1 Pisces on the 3 Pisces Descendant, the point describing open enemies, and here identifying the timing of the race, always held on Patriots’ Day. There is no asteroid Boston, but there is phonetically-similar Bostrom (#25108), which appears to be signaling its utility as a suitable stand-in for Boston by its exact conjunction with the 3 Virgo Ascendant, the “visible face” of the chart, defining how others see us.

So in just three angular placements, we have depicted the venue (Boston/Bostrom/ASC), the event (Marathon/MC), and the day itself (Patria/Patriots’ Day/DSC). But there is much more here.

Also closely on the Descendant is the only angular planet for the day, Neptune at 4 Pisces. Neptune describes the zealot, the fanatic, and also rules victims and isolation. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect, has indicated that he and his brother acted alone, motivated by religious fervor as radicalized Muslims at odds with Western values. This embodies Neptune’s connections with fanaticism and zealotry, identified as pivotal to the story by Neptune’s angularity.

The elder brother, Tamerlan, was quoted in a Boston University student magazine in 2010 as stating,

“I don’t have a single American friend. I don’t understand them.”

This statement conjures images of the isolation Neptune can evoke, with Tamerlan, once a US Olympic Boxing Team hopeful and a legal permanent resident in the US since 2007, now a radicalized jihadist.

Neptune also rules drug use, confusion, hysteria and conspiracies. The younger Tsarnaev was apparently a devout pot smoker before he became a devout Muslim, utilizing both sides of that coinage. And the mass confusion at the event, the hysteria which evoked the citywide lockdown, the conflicting and contradictory early press reports, which led directly to a fresh crop of conspiracy theories, all portray the fine hand of a very powerful, angular Neptune.

As for victims, there are plenty, and two of those most affected, Krystle Campbell and Lu Lingzi, who lost their lives, are represented by asteroids which conjoin Neptune, leaving no doubt as to its prominence here with the victims. Amazingly, both asteroid Christa (#1015, for Krystle) and asteroid Lugh (#217628, for Lu, both identically pronounced as “loo”) appear exactly with Neptune at 4 Virgo. A second asteroid which may be used for Krystle, Christy (#129564,) falls at 4 Gemini, exactly squared Neptune/Christa, and within orb of the 27 Taurus MC.

Also clustered about Neptune and the Descendant are:

• Asteroid Nemesis at 11 Pisces, representing undoing as well as divine vengeance and retribution;
• Centaur Chiron (wounds and wounding, maverick behaviors) in an exact conjunction with asteroid Requiem (named for the funeral mass for the dead) at 12 Pisces; and
• Asteroids Osiris and Tantalus, both at 28 Aquarius still within orb of the Descendant and also tightly squared to the 27 Taurus MC, granting them even greater prominence in the story.

These last two are a stunning testimonial to the power of myth to reverberate even in these modern, spiritually antiseptic times. For both myths rely heavily on the theme of amputation, in its more extreme form of dismemberment, a key component to the Boston Marathon bombing aftermath. In addition to limbs torn from bodies in the explosion itself, local doctors amputated portions of ten victims, including the 6-year-old sister of the third victim killed, Martin Richard, aged 8 (more of his story later).

Osiris, as ancient Egyptian god of the dead, is among the points likely to surface in any death-related event [see my article on “The Deathly Asteroids” in the October 2012 issue of Daykeeper Journal], but also relates specifically to amputation, with his body torn into 14 pieces by his brother Set in a fit of rage.

Tantalus, named for a mythic king who dismembered his own son to cook in a stew to be served to the gods, is a point also noted for heinous, unforgivable acts (President Obama unwittingly verified this connection by using the actual word “heinous” to describe this crime on the day after the bombings). Having these two in exact conjunction at this time, and further strengthened by conjunction with one angle and a tight square to another, is a starting signal of their importance and impact on the day.

In addition to Bostrom on the Ascendant is Achilles, at 0 Virgo. Achilles is a point which represents our “soft spot”, a point of congenital weakness which has come down to us from myth as the “Achilles heel.” For over a decade, since 9/11, terrorism experts have been warning of our vulnerability to attack at just such “soft targets” as the Boston Marathon—open, public events difficult to secure or protect.

Also angular are two asteroids which, like Bostrom, seem to be acting as stand-ins for key players in the story. The closest phonetic/linguistic match to Dzhokhar is asteroid Dzhangar (#2756), which appears at 6 Virgo, also on the Ascendant. As the only surviving suspect and thus the “public face” of this crime going forward, as he faces prosecution, Dzhokhar seems well represented by Dzhangar on the Ascendant, the point where we interact most personally with the world, the image we project. Dzhangar quite appropriately is also very strongly tied by opposition to Neptune et al.

Asteroid Tsarevsky (#24100), the closest match to Tsarnaev, is also angular, appearing at 23 Scorpio, conjoined the 27 Scorpio IC, the foundational point of the chart, underscoring the brothers’ pivotal role in the story, their engendering and execution of the plot. Tsarevsky is also tightly inconjunct to a Sun/Mars conjunction at 25 and 26 Aries, which marks the day as potentially one of attack and violent death. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, despite being named for Tamerlane (Timur the Lame, a fourteenth century Mongol conqueror who hailed from the same central Asian region as the Tsarnaevs), has no suitable asteroid referent for his first name.

Also on the IC are asteroids Rip (#7711, in another instance confirming its usage as “RIP”, a common gravestone inscription signifying “Rest In Peace”) at 22 Scorpio, and Campbell (#2751, an exact match for Krystle Campbell’s last name) at 3 Sagittarius. Once again, we see asteroids names which correlate to or exactly match those of persons prominent in the story, made celestially prominent at that moment by conjunction with those swiftly-moving angles.

Additional celestial factors provide further insights. The third victim killed, Martin Richard, is well represented by asteroids for both his names. Although these do not factor directly into the angles, or major planets of the day, they have a tale to tell nonetheless. Asteroid Martina (#981, for Martin) at 17 Virgo is closely conjoined by asteroid Karma at 16 Virgo, and together these square asteroid Richard (#3972, his last name) at 19 Sagittarius, which is itself conjoined by TNO Ixion at 20 Sagittarius, a point named for the first murderer in Greek mythology. This ties the victim very directly and personally to the themes of a fated or predestined circumstance (Karma) and the unlawful taking of a life (Ixion).

The Bay State itself is pivotal to an understanding of the locale generally—why this place at this time? It is arguable that all of the recent stories of mass murder and terroristic acts stem from the ongoing square between Uranus and Pluto, the defining aspect of our time, violent and disruptive. Uranus’ rulership of explosives, from the pop of a semiautomatic gun to the deafening roar of a bomb blast, ties it firmly to both shootings and bombings.

Although the two were not in exact square at the time of the Boston Marathon, they are never out of orb of aspect for more than three years, and there is a celestial factor binding them more closely for this event. That factor is asteroid Massachusetts, which at 11 Aries was within two degrees of Uranus at 9 Aries, but also exactly squared Pluto at 11 Capricorn, which in addition rules terrorism, acting as a reinforcement of the major square that was, theoretically, not at its most active that day. At least, not anywhere but in Massachusetts.

[Also of note, though unrelated to this story, is the massive explosion of a fertilizer plant in the town of West, Texas, just two days after the Marathon bombing, killing 14, wounding more than 200, and destroying 50+ homes and businesses. That explosion was incomparably larger than the relatively small blasts in Boston, and the variance may lie in another asteroid which ties Uranus and Pluto at that time. This is asteroid West (#2022), which at 9 Cancer was opposing Pluto (also ruling fertilizer) by two degrees, but exactly squared to explosive Uranus at 9 Aries. The difference in degree of explosions between the two incidents may stem from the fact that Massachusetts, while conjunct Uranus, was not in exact aspect to it when the Boston explosions occurred, but West was.]

The story becomes more complex when we consider the interactions between the charts of the victims and the suspects, and compare these to the day’s sky. It is here where Dzhangar and Tsarevsky really prove their mettle as celestial representatives of the suspects.

Eight-year-old Martin Richard was the youngest killed; he was at the marathon with his family, watching friends complete the race. His father would normally have been competing, but an injury prevented that; he had just returned from getting ice cream for the family when the bomb went off. Martin was killed, his six-year-old sister June lost a leg, his mother was seriously wounded, and his father sustained shrapnel injuries.

Born 2 May 2004, Martin’s nativity shows asteroid Tsarevsky at 25 Pisces with Nemesis, that point of vengeful undoing, at 28 Pisces, marking the Tsarnaevs as potentially his personal nemeses. Natal Mars (attacks, violent death) at 26 Gemini squares natal Tsarevsky/Nemesis and is an exact match for the bombing’s Moon, also opposing the Galactic Center at 27 Sagittarius, a point which, when activated, often provides global notice or attention. Transit Mercury, ruling children, was still within orb of Nemesis from 2 Aries. Natal Dzhangar at 2 Cancer is still within orb of that Mars, and also conjoined natal Saturn, ancient lord of death, at 9 Cancer. Saturn was receiving an exact square from transit Uranus at Martin’s death, and also opposed by Pluto.

Lu Lingzi was born 17 August 1989; a Chinese national, she was a graduate student at nearby Boston University, come to experience this day of authentic American culture. Her natal Tsarevsky, incredibly, is an exact match for natal Requiem, named for the funeral mass for the dead, both at 15 Leo, from where they broadly oppose both natal Lachesis and Atropos, at 8 and 22 Aquarius respectively, named for two Greek Fates, one of whom determines the span of life, and the other responsible for severing the thread of life at death.

There is a much tighter square to natal Pluto at 12 Scorpio also, linking the modern ruler of death and terrorism to the Tsarnaevs. Transit Lachesis at 16 Taurus was squared natal Tsarevsky/Requiem, while transit Tsarevsky at 23 Scorpio honed in by square on natal Atropos, with transit Atropos at 15 Gemini in exact sextile to the natal pairing and also accompanied by transit Jupiter at 14 Gemini, bringing notoriety (Jupiter) in death (Atropos) for Lingzi. Natal Dzhangar at 29 Libra conjoins Osiris, ancient Egyptian god of the dead, at 5 Scorpio and exactly opposes Damocles, that sword of doom hanging unseen overhead, at 29 Aries. Damocles was about to be conjoined by the transit Sun/Mars conjunction, then at 25 and 26 Aries.

Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old who was a regular spectator at the marathon (her grandmother described it as her favorite day, ever since she was a little girl), was the third victim to die that day. Natal Tsarevsky at 0 Gemini conjoins natal Atropos at 2 Gemini, once again linking the Tsarnaevs directly with death in her nativity. This combination was conjoined by transit asteroid Christy at 4 Gemini and opposed by asteroid Campbell at 3 Sagittarius for the bombing, with Neptune/Christa in square from 4 Pisces and Bostrom/Ascendant also in square from 3 Virgo, forming a Grand Cross. Natal Dzhangar at 17 Taurus conjoins the natal Sun at 12 Taurus, denoting Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s importance in Krystle’s life story, and was closely conjunct transit Lachesis at 16 Taurus when she died, indicating that Dzhokhar was, in fact, the determining factor in her lifespan. Natal Dzhangar also opposes a stunning combination of natal asteroid Campbell and natal TNO Ixion at 15 and 16 Scorpio, suggesting a potential for unlawful death or murder (Ixion) linked to Krystle’s surname, via Dzhokhar’s agency.

If the asteroids representing the suspects form dramatic contacts to the charts of the victims, no less do those victims’ asteroids appear in the nativities of the Tsarnaevs.

Born 21 October 1986, Tamerlan Tsarnaev has both natal Campbell at 23 Libra and natal Martina at 3 Scorpio within orb of his 27 Libra Sun, denoting a strong personal link between the three. Additionally, Campbell is squared to natal Osiris at 26 Capricorn, while Martina, for Martin Richard, also conjoins natal Pluto at 6 Scorpio, with asteroid Richard at 13 Virgo squared natal Uranus/bombings at 19 Sagittarius. Uranus also provides links to other victim asteroids, by conjunction with Lugh at 21 Sagittarius and opposition to Christy at 17 Gemini. Natal Christa at 18 Leo is broadly conjoined natal Lachesis at 12 Leo, and is further squared to natal Rip at 21 Scorpio. All told, six out of six victim asteroids appear prominently with indicators of death in Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s birth chart.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is no less well connected. Born 22 July 1993, incredibly, just like his brother he also has Campbell conjoined his natal Sun, at 3 Leo and 29 Cancer respectively, providing that very personal link to his victim, albeit they never met. Asteroid Christa is an exact match for his natal Mars at 17 Virgo, with asteroid Richard close by at 12 Virgo. Natal Lugh conjoins natal Atropos at 9 and 14 Aries, while natal Christy at 20 Scorpio conjoins both natal Pluto and Ixion, at 22 and 25 Scorpio. Natal Martina is the least integrated; at 7 Aquarius it forms a broad square to an exact natal pairing of Karma and Osiris at 15 Scorpio.

Lots of tech there, but indulge me with one final pass and we’ll look at contacts from the bombing itself directly to the charts of victims and suspects.

Martin Richard’s natal Rip at 23 Aquarius was exactly squared transit Tsarevsky at 23 Scorpio; his natal Pluto at 21 Sagittarius was conjoined by transit Richard and Ixion at 19 and 20 Sagittarius. An exact natal conjunction of Neptune and Richard at 15 Aquarius, identifying him as a potential victim, was closely squared by the transit nodal axis at 16 Scorpio/Taurus, with transit Lachesis exactly on that South Node and still within orb of his 12 Taurus Sun. Natal Lachesis at 20 Virgo was conjoined by transit Martina at 17 Virgo. Natal Atropos/Uranus (sudden death by explosion) at 5/6 Pisces was conjoined by transit Neptune and Patria at 4 and 1 Pisces; natal Richard at 15 Pisces was exactly squared by transit Atropos at 15 Gemini, with transit Nemesis/Requiem closing in from 11 and 12 Pisces. Natal Mars was exactly conjoined by the transit Moon at 26 Gemini, natal Saturn at 9 Cancer was exactly squared by transit Uranus at 9 Aries and exactly trined by transit Saturn at 9 Scorpio.

Lu Lingzi’s natal Sun at 25 Leo was exactly trined by the transit Sun at 25 Aries, with Mars also in trine from 26 Aries; these also fall in the midst of her natal Lugh/Damocles conjunction at 23 and 29 Aries. Natal Massachusetts/Mars at 6 and 9 Virgo (itself an image of violent death in the Bay State, for this Chinese national on a student visa) was opposed by transit Neptune/Lugh/Nemesis/Requiem at 4 and 11/12 Pisces. Natal Mercury (students) at 20 Virgo was exactly squared by transit Ixion (murder) at 20 Sagittarius; natal Atropos at 22 Aquarius was squared by transit Rip at 23 Scorpio, which also conjoined natal Ixion at 21 Scorpio; the natal Requiem/Tsarevsky conjunction at 15 Leo was squared by the nodal axis and transit Lachesis; natal Osiris at 5 Scorpio was trined by transit Neptune/Lugh. Natal Neptune at 9 Capricorn was conjoined by transit Pluto at 11 Capricorn and exactly squared by transit Uranus at 9 Aries; natal Pluto at 12 Scorpio was exactly trined by transit Requiem. Transit Pluto and transit Saturn at 9 Scorpio also formed a Yod, or Finger of Destiny, with her natal Marathon at 9 Gemini, exactly sextiled by transit Uranus. This pattern is extremely evocative, binding both ancient and modern rulers of death (Saturn, Pluto) in a predestined (Yod) focus on the Boston race (Marathon), activated by the bombings (Uranus).

Krystle Campbell’s natal Campbell/Ixion at 15/16 Scorpio was conjunct the transit North Node at 16 Scorpio, with transit Lachesis opposing from the South Node; natal Patria at 21 Scorpio was conjoined by transit Rip at 23 Scorpio; natal Christa at 20 Sagittarius was exactly conjoined by transit Ixion, which was also exactly squared an exact natal conjunction of Rip and Massachusetts at 20 Pisces. Natal Damocles at 3 Pisces was conjunct transit Neptune/Christa at 4 Pisces, which were also squared the natal conjunction of Tsarevsky and Atropos at 0 and 2 Gemini. Natal Pluto at 27 Libra was opposed by the transit Sun/Mars conjunction at 25 and 26 Aries.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s natal Campbell/Sun at 23 and 27 Libra was opposed by the transit Sun/Mars at 25/26 Aries; natal Martina/Pluto at 3 and 6 Scorpio was trined by transit Patria/Neptune at 1 and 4 Pisces, which also conjoined natal Damocles at 2 Pisces and squared natal Atropos at 4 Gemini. Natal Rip at 21 Scorpio was conjoined by transit Rip at 23 Scorpio (thus he had just experienced his “Rip Return”); natal Uranus/Lugh at 19 and 21 Sagittarius was conjoined by transit Ixion at 20 Sagittarius, which was also exactly squared natal Marathon at 20 Virgo. Natal Osiris at 26 Capricorn was exactly inconjunct the transit Moon at 26 Gemini.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s natal Marathon/Tsarevsky exact conjunction at 22 Aries was conjoined by transit Sun/Mars at 25/26 Aries; natal Karma/Osiris at 15 Scorpio was conjoined the transit North Node at 16 Scorpio and opposed by transit Lachesis on the South Node, which was also trine natal Mars/Christa at 17 Virgo. Natal Saturn at 28 Aquarius was exactly conjoined by transit Osiris/Tantalus and tightly squared the 27 Taurus MC, with natal Patria on that MC at 26 Taurus. Natal Bostrom at 24 Sagittarius was opposed by the transit Moon at 26 Gemini; natal Pluto/Ixion at 22 and 25 Scorpio was conjoined by transit Rip at 23 Scorpio.

As with other stories of this nature, such as the mass shootings in Tucson [see the January 2011 issue of Daykeeper Journal], Aurora [see the August 2012 issue of Daykeeper Journal] and Sandy Hook Elementary [see the January 2013 issue of Daykeeper Journal], the complex interweaving of the day’s sky with the charts of the victims and the perpetrators yields a rich tapestry of celestial connectivity that leaves little doubt of the operation of fate in our world of apparent free will.

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 .