Two senseless deaths of African Americans at police hands in April 2015 lit up the US with the fervor of righteous indignation and the quest for justice. In the case of Baltimore, wracked with rioting, the lighting-up was quite literal, with burned vehicles and torched buildings and stores.
On April 4, an unarmed Walter Scott was shot in the back while fleeing a traffic stop in North Charleston, South Carolina. On April 12 in Baltimore, Freddie Gray somehow received a fatal spinal cord injury, from which he later died, while in police custody after an illegal arrest.
Both instances were at least partially recorded, and this increased visibility brought them to public notice, casting further light on the ways poor or minority populations are routinely harassed, and sometimes brutalized or killed, by police forces across the country, for even minor infractions. The inequality of justice evinced by such earlier tragedies as Eric Garner’s chokehold death in Staten Island and Michael Brown’s shooting in Ferguson, Missouri the previous year was revisited with a vengeance. But unlike these prior travesties of justice, officers in both April incidents were charged with murder, giving hope that justice may, finally, be done. [In Part One of this article, we will deal with the Walter Scott shooting; Part Two, focusing on the death of Freddie Gray, will appear in the July 2015 Daykeeper Journal.]
At approximately 9:30 AM on April 4, 2015, Officer Michael Slager pulled over Walter Scott in the parking lot of an auto parts store in North Charleston, SC, citing him for a broken tail light on the 1991 Mercedes he was driving, which Scott had just purchased from a neighbor. In the car with Scott was a friend, Pierre Fulton.
After an initial exchange, Officer Slager returned to his car to run Scott’s plates and personal data, at which point Scott took off running. Speculation is that Scott, who was behind on his child support payments, was afraid of being arrested, as had occurred on a prior occasion.
Slager took off in pursuit, first firing at Scott with his taser. The taser hit Scott, but the jolt failed to stop him, and he continued to try to evade Slager, at which point the officer pulled his revolver and fired eight times at Scott, hitting him five times in the back, once through the heart, killing him. Scott was fleeing in an almost slow-motion, disjointed manner due to the taser assault, and was 15-20 feet off from the officer at the shooting, running away. Immediately after the shooting, Slager radioed to headquarters, “Shots fired and suspect is down, he took my taser.” He then went to the body, handcuffed it, returned to the earlier portion of the chase, retrieved his taser from the spot where it had fallen, came back to the body, and dropped it there.
Also in the back lot where the chase occurred was bystander Feidin Santana, on his way to work; alerted by the chase, he videoed the shooting and subsequent activity with his cell phone. It was the release of this video that brought the case to national attention and directly refuted the officer’s testimony that the shooting had occurred because Scott had taken his taser, and he feared for his life. On April 7, Slager was himself arrested, and charged with first degree murder.
An astrological chart set for 9:30 AM EDT in North Charleston, SC on April 4, 2015 shows remarkable resonance to the events. The chart is dominated by the Full Moon, which occurred less than two hours before the shooting, with the Sun at 14 Aries still opposed the Moon at 15 Libra. The Moon has moved to exactly square Pluto, modern ruler of death, at 15 Capricorn, slowing for its station and powerfully present in the sky. Within orb of the Sun are Uranus at 16 Aries, ruling shootings, and Mercury at 8 Aries, marking it as a major news day.
Even more telling, Mercury and the Sun are accompanied by asteroids Anubis, named for an ancient Egyptian deity governing funerary rites, and Fedina, for bystander Feidin Santana, who shot the video of the incident, both at 9 Aries. Together these establish Feidin Santana (Fedina) as a witness (Mercury) to a shooting (Uranus) death (Anubis) which becomes a central focus of the day (Sun).
Feidin is also strongly represented by asteroid Santana, which at 2 Gemini is closely conjunct the Ascendant at 1 Gemini, opposing Saturn, ancient lord of death, at 4 Sagittarius on the Descendant. This angularity lends force and impact to Santana’s role in the tragedy, timed virtually to the minute. Also conjoining Mercury/Anubis/Fedina is asteroid Carolina, representing the state in which the shooting occurred, at 6 Aries.
Walter Scott is also well represented, with asteroid Walter at 17 Capricorn conjunct Pluto, modern ruler of death, and in T-Square with the Full Moon axis; and asteroid Scott at 26 Virgo, conjunct asteroid Lachesis, named for the mythic Greek Fate who determines the span of life, at 23 Virgo, and squared to the Galactic Center, conferring global notice or attention, at 27 Sagittarius. This also becomes a T-Square with the addition of asteroids Michelle and Michel, both for Officer Michael Slager, at 23 and 29 Pisces, with Lachesis exactly opposed Michelle, depicting Michael Slager as the determining factor in Walter Scott’s life span. Michelle is also exactly squared to TNO Ixion at 23 Sagittarius, named for the first murderer in Greek myth, prefiguring the first degree murder charge to come.
Pierre Fulton, the passenger in Walter Scott’s car, is also present celestially, with asteroid Fulton at 29 Taurus conjunct the 1 Gemini Ascendant and asteroid Santana, and asteroid Pierre at 14 Gemini, exactly sextile the Sun. The closest PNA representing Officer Slager’s last name is asteroid Schegel, which at 3 Virgo squares the horizontal axis as well as Saturn at 4 Sagittarius, which rules not only death but also policemen. A Grand Cross is formed by the addition of asteroid Rip (for the acronym “RIP”, “Rest In Peace”) at 0 Pisces.
Jupiter at 12 Leo is exactly on the IC, opposing asteroid Atropos, named for the Greek Fate who severs the thread of life at death, at 9 Aquarius on the 12 Aquarius MC, these angular placements highlighting the theme of this opposition, which is fame or renown (Jupiter) associated with a death (Atropos).
It may seem an odd circumstance which found Feidin Santana in the right place at the right time to record the shooting, but Walter Scott’s birth chart shows a strong astrological affinity between them. Born 9 February 1965, Scott’s natal asteroid Walter at 18 Pisces is conjoined by natal Fedina at 20 Pisces. Incredibly, these are squared by transit asteroid Photographica, representing the filming, at 18 Sagittarius. This becomes a T-Square when we factor in the opposition from natal Walter/Fedina to an exact conjunction of natal Pluto and Photographica at 15 Virgo, which shows an inherent potential for the filming of his death. Also here is natal Uranus at 13 Virgo, again ruling shootings.
These points were activated by transit asteroid Requiem, named for the funeral mass for the dead, at 12 Virgo at the time of the shooting. Scott’s natal asteroid Santana at 26 Capricorn conjoins natal Karma at 22 Capricorn, perhaps showing a fated circumstance binding the two men.
Officer Michael Slager is represented in Scott’s astrological chart by asteroid Michel at 17 Gemini, which conjoins Atropos (death) at 12 Gemini, squared by transit Requiem at the shooting; and by asteroid Schlegel at 24 Sagittarius, conjoining transit Ixion and T-Squaring the Lachesis/Scott opposition to Michelle/Michel. Natal Michelle at 6 Aquarius was opposed by transit Nemesis, representing the agency of one’s undoing, at 5 Leo when Walter Scott died. Additionally, Scott’s natal Requiem at 13 Libra was bound up in the Full Moon at 14 Libra hours before his death, and natal asteroid Rip at 4 Sagittarius was exactly on Saturn’s retrograde station and transit degree for the shooting. Saturn also squared Scott’s natal Saturn at 5 Pisces.
But perhaps the most significant placement in Walter Scott’s nativity is his Mars, which at 27 Virgo is exactly squared to the Galactic Center at 27 Sagittarius. GC contacts carry the potential for the individual to receive widespread, perhaps even global, notice or attention for some aspect of the contacting planet. In essence, these individuals may become global ambassadors of a cause or movement, almost archetypal embodiments of the energies represented by the point which grants access to the GC’s power to elevate and disseminate. In this case, with Mars ruling violent death, it was not Scott’s life but the manner of his death which brought worldwide recognition and acknowledgement of his existence.
Born 14 November 1981, Officer Michael Slager is also tied to the incident from birth. Natal Ixion (murder) exactly conjoins asteroid Osiris (named for the ancient Egyptian god of the dead) at 15 Scorpio, and is within orb of both asteroid Walter at 18 Scorpio, and the natal Sun at 22 Scorpio, which exactly opposed natal asteroid Scott at 22 Taurus, closely binding the two men. The Sun falls on the midpoint of Ixion at 22 Scorpio and Uranus at 29 Scorpio, seven degrees off each, identifying Slager (Sun) as a potential murderer (Ixion) by shooting (Uranus).
Slager’s natal Saturn at 17 Libra had been ignited by the Full Moon, and a natal pairing of Atropos and Neptune at 22 and 23 Sagittarius, with the GC at 26 natally, shows yet again the potential for the filming (Neptune, ruling photography generally) of a death (Atropos) with global attention (GC). Transit Ixion here at 23 Sagittarius for the death identifies the act as murder. Three variants of Slager’s first name, Michela, Michel and Michelle are clustered together at 17, 20 and 21 Capricorn, with transit Walter exactly conjunct Michela at the shooting. Transit Michelle and Michel at 23 and 29 Pisces were also within orb of Slager’s natal Nemesis at 25 Pisces, identifying him as the agent of another’s destruction.
Natal Schlegel appears at 3 Virgo, the same degree as in the transit sky for the shooting, thus Slager was experiencing a “Schlegel Return” at the time, squared by transit Saturn at 4 Sagittarius and opposed by Scott’s natal Saturn at 5 Pisces. Slager’s natal Mars, ruling violent death and homicide generally, at 13 Virgo is an exact match for Scott’s natal Uranus, bound up with his Pluto/Photographica conjunction, and activated by transit Requiem at the shooting.
The Freddie Gray incident is just as powerfully represented by the skies of its time, just 8 days after the Walter Scott shooting, and with ramifications even further reaching. We’ll discuss this tragedy in Part Two of this article, in the July 2015 issue of Daykeeper Journal.
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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