Just as “last call” was being announced at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday morning, June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen, an American citizen of Afghani descent, opened fire with an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle. In the melee that followed, Mateen killed 49 patrons and wounded 52 others, finally dying himself in a confrontation with SWAT officers after a three-hour siege.
This tragedy, the largest mass shooting in American history, led to renewed calls for gun control, with four separate bills, which would have made it illegal for persons on the No-Fly and Terrorist Watch lists to purchase firearms, defeated in the US Senate within the week.
Mateen himself was known to the FBI, questioned on four prior occasions and briefly on the Terrorist Watch list, but despite a history of violent rhetoric and behaviors (his first wife had to be “rescued” by her parents from her abusive marriage within four months after they wed), no definite terrorist connection could be proved, and Mateen was allowed to go free. During his nightclub spree, Mateen phoned 911 and pledged his allegiance to the head of terror group ISIS, making various other political statements as well.
The shooting was characterized as both a terrorist act and a hate crime, with the LGBT community his chosen targets. Conflicting reports surfaced—that Matten’s homophobia was set off by the sight of two men kissing in front of his three-year-old son several months earlier, and that he had been a somewhat regular patron of Pulse and other Orlando area gay clubs, as well as appearing on gay dating websites. Was Mateen anti-gay, or sexually conflicted himself, internalizing his homophobia and suppressing his desires until he exploded in rage and violence? We’re not likely to ever understand.
An astrological chart set for the first shots fired, at 2:02 AM EDT on 12 June 2016, is striking in its accurate portrayal of the tragedy, and Mateen’s birth chart ties to the event in appropriate ways as well.
Just looking at the Sun and its companions tells much of the story. The day witnessed the exact conjunction of the Sun at 21 Gemini with asteroid Ganymed, a point resonating to LGBT issues, named for Zeus’s mythic cupbearer and boy-toy lover. With the Sun and Ganymed are:
- Venus at 23 Gemini (ruling entertainment locales such as nightclubs),
- TNO Chaos at 20 Gemini (ruling pandemonium, anarchy and chaotic behaviors/situations),
- Asteroid Icarus at 19 Gemini (ruling rash, reckless behaviors heedless of the consequences),
- Asteroid Rip (for the acronym RIP, “Rest In Peace”, a common tombstone inscription) at 18 Gemini, and
- Asteroid Apophis at 16 Gemini, named for the Ancient Egyptian personification of pure evil.
This is a staggering line-up of celestial energies tailor-made for this story, rendered all the more impactful by its opposition to TNO Ixion, named for the first murderer in Greek myth, centaur Pholus, associated with mass deaths, by whatever cause, and asteroid Lachesis, named for the mythic Greek Fate who determines the span of life, at 23, 26 and 28 Sagittarius respectively.
Squaring these, and broadly squaring the Sun, is asteroid Matti at 29 Pisces, a celestial stand-in for shooter Mateen.
This ties to the astrological birth chart of Omar Mateen in unfortunate ways. Born 16 November 1986, Mateen’s natal Uranus at 20 Sagittarius closely opposes transit Sun/Ganymed and especially Chaos, which is just what he enacted—a moment of chaos in the gay community. Uranus rules shootings, defining the method by which Mateen enacted his chaos. Also within orb of opposition to the transit Sun and Ganymed is Mateen’s natal asteroid Tantalus at 25 Sagittarius, a point noted for the commission of heinous acts. Its natal conjunction with the Galactic Center at 26 Sagittarius indicates the potential for Mateen becoming widely known for some horrible, unforgivable deed, as the GC promotes global recognition and awareness.
The Aries Point is rising in the Pulse shooting chart, with 0 degrees of Cardinal Signs on all four angles; this is the point where “the political becomes personal”, something demonstrated most vividly by Mateen, who used the shield of ISIS’ terrorism and political ideology to convey his own personal issues with homosexuality. Also of note are minor points exactly conjoined three of the four angles. Asteroid Kassandra rises exactly on the 0 Aries Ascendant, a symbol of broadcasting ideas to a population who may or may not find them credible, which also calls into question the veracity or sanity of the messenger.
Exactly on the 0 Cancer IC is asteroid Karma, representing things fated, and the results of our actions; and exactly on the 0 Libra Descendant is TNO Logos, a point noted for its detailed planning and preparation, the reasoning or rationale behind the deed. Mateen is known to have visited Pulse on several prior occasions. This wasn’t a random location for his mayhem; whether he used that time to plan his attack or sought sexual contact with other men is uncertain.
While there is no point exactly conjoined the 0 Capricorn MC, the points closest to it, the most elevated points in the chart, are asteroid Lachesis, the Fate who determines the span of life, at 28 Sagittarius, and asteroid Requiem, named for the funeral mass for the dead, at 11 Capricorn, repeating the theme of death predominant. Requiem also ties to transit Pluto, modern ruler of death, which at 16 Capricorn in the Tenth House is the most visible and elevated major planet.
Of particular note is an exact T-Square of points which, taken together, perfectly portray the symbolism of the event, in a way which would almost be seen as beautiful, were it not for the dreadful, horrific circumstances. These are transit Mars retrograde at 25 Scorpio, at the fulcrum of an opposition from Damocles at 25 Aquarius to asteroid Sappho at 25 Leo. Mars is violent death, attacks, guns and anger or aggression; Damocles represents the doom hanging unseen overhead; and Sappho, named for a noted Greek poet and lesbian, represents the LGBT community. The celestial timing required to bring these three together in such perfect symmetry is staggering, conveying a sense of inevitability which is only heightened by the placement of transit Mars in conjunction with Mateen’s natal Sun at 23 Scorpio, personalizing the potentiality of this configuration to him specifically.
This T-Square becomes a Grand Cross with the inclusion of transit Mercury at 29 Taurus, traveling in tandem with asteroid Atropos at 28 Taurus. Atropos is named for the mythic Greek Fate who severs the thread of life at death. Together, these suggest that death (Atropos) is in the news (Mercury), and this is enhanced by a conjunction with Mateen’s natal Atropos at 27 Taurus, which opposes his natal Sun, potentially marking him as an agent of death. Thus Mateen had just experienced an “Atropos Return”, reinforcing the natal potential of that opposition.
Astoundingly, even the venue for Mateen’s atrocities is “foretold” in his chart, with asteroids Rip and Orlandi (for Orlando) exactly conjunct at 29 Scorpio, within orb of the Sun and opposing natal Atropos. This “prophesizes”, not only Mateen’s chosen venue for his mass killing (he lived two hours away in Port St. Lucie, so Orlando was chosen and not just a target of convenience), but also the location of his own death. All written from birth. Also with Mateen’s Sun natally is TNO Ixion, identifying him potentially as linked with murder, as the perpetrator or the victim.
By transit, Orlandi appears at 6 Taurus, tightly opposing Mateen’s natal pairing of Venus and Pluto at 6 and 7 Scorpio. While clearly portraying his abusive relationship history, Venus/Pluto also hints at sexual issues surrounding control, scandal or taboo (as in homosexual behaviors), themes of domination and death. Natal asteroid Ganymed factors into this by tight sextile from 7 Virgo, indicating issues with homosexuality; Ganymed is also squared to natal Saturn/Apophis at 10/11 Sagittarius, suggesting a potential for outrageous evil and repression or death, linked to the gay community.
In addition to the conjunction of transit Mars with his natal Sun, Mateen has a natal square to Mars, exact at 23 Aquarius (which puts this point conjunct the Damocles of the shooting). This indicates anger and aggression instincts, a tendency toward violence, and difficulty managing one’s rage. Close beside Mars is an exact conjunction of asteroid Omarkhayyam (for Mateen’s first name, Omar) and asteroid Isis, both at 26 Aquarius and also squaring the natal Sun. This doubly reinforces Mateen’s self-identification (Sun, Omarkhayyam) with terror group ISIS (Isis), and his subsequent pledge of allegiance as a soldier (Mars) in their cause.
By transit, Omarkhayyam at 16 Virgo is sandwiched between transit Jupiter (religious or political philosophies) at 14 Virgo and the Moon (the public, public spaces) at 20 Virgo, all squaring the transit Sun/Ganymed. Transit Isis at 28 Libra lies within orb of transit Nemesis at 23 Libra, both opposing the transit stellium of Uranus/Eris/Tantalus at 23 Aries, all of which rest exactly on Mateen’s natal asteroid Mattei at the shooting. Transit Nemesis also galvanizes Mateen’s natal Requiem at 25 Libra, further heightening death-related energies in his chart.
The city of Orlando was incorporated on 31 July 1875, and aspects between this chart and that of Mateen and the shooting are significant. The city’s natal Nemesis at 24 Scorpio is conjunct Mateen’s natal Sun at 23 Scorpio, perhaps attracting him to this venue for his carnage. Moreover, its natal Saturn (death) at 23 Aquarius is an exact match for Mateen’s natal Mars, so Orlando’s Saturn/Nemesis square strongly brings out Mateen’s natal Sun/Mars square.
Orlando’s natal Mattei at 11 Capricorn is an exact match for the Requiem of the shooting, and its Matti at 5 Taurus conjoins the transit degree of Orlandi at 6 Taurus for the shooting (with its natal Damocles at 6 Aquarius squaring natal Matti and transit Orlandi). Natal Orlandi at 26 Sagittarius closely conjoins Mateen’s natal Tantalus (heinous acts) and transit Lachesis (determining lifespan) for the shooting, both at 28 Sagittarius. Orlando’s natal Omarkhayyam at 17 Pisces opposes its Requiem at 18 Virgo, and these form a T-Square with the shooting’s Apophis and Rip at 16 and 18 Gemini, more broadly including the Sun/Ganymed conjunction at 21. There certainly does appear to be a high level of enmeshment between Mateen and the city he brutalized.
Ordinarily, I would look to victims’ names and PNAs as well, but with 49 dead, this is a Herculean task, and impossible to include in an article of this scope. But I don’t wish the victims to go unremarked, so I have chosen one example, 18-year-old Akyra Murray.
The youngest person murdered, Akyra hailed from my own Philadelphia; she had graduated high school the week before the shooting, third in her class and a star basketball player. She was planning to attend college that fall on a sports scholarship, and went to Orlando on a family vacation to celebrate her graduation. She ended up at Pulse with her cousin and a friend (both also wounded, but survived), just to dance, chosen as a place that admitted under-21s.
When Akyra Murray died, transit asteroid Murray at 7 Scorpio was exactly conjunct Omar Mateen’s natal Pluto, and closely opposed the transit degree of Orlandi at 6 Taurus, the city where she died. In Mateen’s birth chart, asteroid Murray appears at 1 Virgo, closely squared to the natal Orlandi/Rip conjunction at 29 Scorpio which prefigured his murderous rampage.
Truly, is anything chance?
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 .