[Editor’s note: we are delighted to publish this article by Alex Miller, with thanks to Alex and his website, Alex’s Asteroid Astrology, an incomparable resource for asteroid-related astrology. There you’ll find in-depth astrological analyses of breaking events, as well as the astrological meanings of many mythic named asteroids.]
In the earlier installment of this study, we discussed SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s penis euphemism asteroids, in an attempt to determine how likely some of the alleged sexual misconduct behaviors were. We established that each of these four points, and three related others, have prominent placement in Kavanaugh’s chart, suggesting that sex and sexual issues have a great weight in his life and biography.
The focus of this second part is to examine asteroids specifically related to rape or coercive sexual contact. Unfortunately, there are quite a large number of these, human nature and masculine energy being what it is. Typically, I look for asteroids representing rapists in a man’s chart, and those for rape victims in a woman’s, for simplicity’s sake, but of course the cosmos isn’t sexist, and all symbols apply to both genders. So we’ll be tackling the full range in this article, and that’s gonna take awhile…
Let’s start with a brief introduction of this supporting cast, and we’ll lead off with a celestial perp walk of sex crimes offenders from myth. Our chief recidivist is undoubtedly Zeus himself, King of the Gods of ancient Greece, who fathered countless bastards in his time, many with the full cooperation of his inamoratas.
Among those reluctant of his embrace, however, were Leda, mother of Apollo and Artemis, whom he seduced in the form of a swan (Zeus liked to keep things on the DL as much as possible, partly in an effort to elude his suspicious wife Hera, so he often donned disguises when copulating with mere mortals). He took Europa while in the guise of a large white bull (but he named a continent after her as compensation), and he lured Callisto, a virgin devotee of the virgin goddess Artemis, into his embrace by pretending to be the goddess herself, with, um, an extra part, shall we say? Zeus “shared” Antiope with a human ravisher, Epopeus, and she later bore twins, one mortal and one divine. This is only a partial list of Zeus’ “conquests”, including just those victims who also have asteroids named for them.
Other mythic rapists include Zeus’ brothers Poseidon (these things often run in families), who raped his own sister Demeter (in the form of a horse, always trying to compete with his brother), and Hades, who abducted and raped his niece Persephone, whom he then married. Poseidon also ravished Medusa, once a stunningly beautiful maiden, whom Athena transformed into the snake-haired monster we’re familiar with after Medusa was raped in her temple (perhaps the first recorded instance of blaming the victim). There is no asteroid Hades, but Pluto is the Roman equivalent.
Next is the ferryman centaur Nessus, who attempted to rape Heracles’ wife after he gave her a piggyback ride across a river. Heracles, observing this breach of the public trust, shot him from the far bank with a poisoned arrow, and Nessus expired without actually consummating the rape.
Also among this rogues gallery is Ajax the Lesser, who raped the prophetess Kassandra after the fall of Troy.
Last is Aristaeus, who came upon Orpheus’ wife Eurydice as she wandered in the fields, and was so smitten that he couldn’t restrain himself, but lunged at her; in fleeing his embrace, Eurydice trod upon a poisonous serpent and expired, but with her honor still intact. All these victims also have asteroids named for them, so you can see we have our work cut out for us.
We’ll also take a look at asteroid Toro, which represents bullying, aggressive behaviors, brute force and brutish acts, and an excess of testosterone or machismo.
Once again, it needs to be noted that everyone has all these points in the birth chart; merely having them prominent is no guarantee of how they are manifesting. Most have alternate meanings based in their myths which have nothing to do with coercive sex. Kassandra, for example, also represents issues with credibility or trust, being believed; Eurydice connects to nostalgia and a desire to recapture former conditions which are gone beyond recall. But for an individual who has these conspicuously placed, there is a greater potential for involvement with rape at some point in the life, as perpetrator or victim, whether justly or falsely accused.
For Brett Kavanaugh (born 12 February 1965, no time available), their chart layout is as follows.
Let’s deal first with those bodies which are at station, as they represent embedded forces in the psyche, the still points upon which the chart revolves, exerting an influence disproportionately greater than the norm. They can dominate character and color biography, in ways which cannot be explained via major planetary energies alone.
In Kavanaugh’s chart, these include Nessus at 2 Gemini, which turned direct two days after his birth; Demeter at 12 Gemini, which turned retrograde ten days before his birth; and Toro at 23 Libra, which turned direct on the same day as Demeter. Often stationing points will be in trine to the Sun (since this is the geometric zone when changes of direction typically occur), but in this instance, only Toro is in aspect.
This indicates that Kavanaugh may hold an image of himself (Sun) as a stereotypical male, overly assertive/aggressive (Toro), without much regard to others’ wishes or feelings as he barges through life like the proverbial bull in a china shop (from which Toro gets its name—Toro is Spanish for “bull”). This is unflagging male energy, forceful and intrusive, with a reputation for fecundity and sexual prowess.
Although Nessus and Demeter are not aspected to the Sun, both are conjoined asteroid Justitia at 4 Gemini (also stationary), named for the Roman goddess of justice (and the root of our word), as well as the actual job title of the promotion Kavanaugh is seeking! This blends the energies of the SCOTUS with those of coercive sex, which, whether the accusations are true or not, has certainly been the case here. (Asteroid Aristaeus, which we’ll discuss later, conjoins Themis, named for the Greek goddess of justice, doubling down on that connection.)
In addition, Demeter sextiles asteroid Christine at 14 Leo and trines asteroid Ford at 16 Libra (also stationary!), identifying Kavanaugh’s first accuser. A Grand Trine is formed with Damocles, the doom hanging unseen overhead, at 15 Aquarius, with Christine creating a Kite pattern of this. If Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations are true, then he played the role of Damocles’ sword to her in high school, and she is now returning the favor.
Zeus and his brother Poseidon were the most egregious repeat offenders from the list of mythic rapists above, but of course both also have multiple archetypal associations beyond rape. Nevertheless, when expressing this aspect of the archetype, we can expect these points might function more inveterately and with more focus than other similar energies, due to the recurrent nature of their mythic namesakes’ offenses. In simple parlance, the difference between a one-time transgressor or serial rapist.
Asteroid Zeus at 15 Aries opposes Ford at 16 Libra, and forms a T-Square with asteroid Cavagna (pronounced “kah-VAHN-ya”, our closest phonetic match to Kavanaugh) at 17 Capricorn. This directly unites the alleged offender with his alleged victim, and the act itself. In and of itself, this does not prove guilt—only that these factors are, and will be, linked which is in fact the case here. Whether the nomination is successful or not this incident will be a part of the historical and political record of this country forever. The fact that this is so apparently evident in the birth chart is simply staggering.
Zeus is also in a Grand Trine with Christine and Askalaphus (the tale-bearer or whistleblower, revealer of secrets) at 14 and 16 Leo, and Aristaeus, another rape-related asteroid, at 15 Sagittarius. It’s interesting to find Aristaeus bound with Christine and Ford, which it sextiles, since his interaction with Eurydice was an attempted rape, ultimately unsuccessful, which is precisely what Ford alleges.
There are no less than three Kite patterns derived from this basic configuration: one formed by Zeus’ opposition to Ford; another formed by Christine/Askalaphus’ opposition to Damocles; and a third formed by Aristaeus’ opposition to asteroid Sphinx at 17 Gemini. Sphinx is noted for opacity and inscrutability, a mystery or enigma, something which can only be unraveled with difficulty, an energy which certainly seems to have application to this case. With Sphinx also at station (it turned direct a week before Kavanaugh’s birth), we see an individual who is hidden and unknowable, the ultimate riddle, incapable of solving, well beyond the facts of this case, an impenetrable conundrum.
Poseidon falls at 6 Capricorn, semisquare the 23 Aquarius Sun, in conjunction with Bacchus at 2 Cap and squared Wiener at 5 Libra; it may also oppose the Cancer Moon if Kavanaugh was born early in the day. Bacchus brings in the element of alcohol and extreme drunkenness, as his followers celebrated with orgiastic rites fueled by copious amounts of wine.
Excessive drinking forms an important part of all the allegations against Kavanaugh, who is universally depicted as heavily intoxicated when these incidents occurred. The claims presented by Kavanaugh’s third accuser, Julie Swetnick, of seeing him at more than ten parties, lined up with other men outside a bedroom containing a woman purposely incapacitated by alcohol or chemicals, waiting his turn at the “train” rape, is consistent with the type of activity Bacchus evokes. Allegations that Kavanaugh and his friend Mike Judge “spiked” girls’ drinks to make them easier prey is totally consistent with an active Bacchus.
We’ve discussed Aristaeus above, in connection with the conjunction to Themis and its inclusion in the Grand Trine and Kite patterns mentioned previously. At 15 Sagittarius, Aristaeus is also squared to a natal pairing of Uranus and Pluto at 13 and 15 Virgo, adding elements of explosiveness, volatility and controversy (all Uranus) as well as coercion or manipulation, criminal activity, scandal and taboo (all Pluto). It forms a Grand Cross with stationary Demeter at 12 Gemini and asteroid Brett at 9 Pisces, bringing this energy home to Kavanaugh very personally. Brett has a second connection to a sexually-coercive asteroid, opposed Ajax at 1 Virgo (though this is too wide to be considered part of the Grand Cross); it is also widely squared Nessus, giving this point a third personal connection to coercive energies.
That concludes the analysis of the “perpetrator” asteroids. Some of the “victim” asteroids remain. Leda at 16 Leo conjoins Christine and blends with the Kite described above. Medusa at 11 Aquarius is also part of this pattern, and in addition conjoins natal Venus at 8 Aquarius. Persephone at 16 Scorpio conjoins Neptune at 19 Scorpio and forms a T-Square with Leda and Medusa; Kassandra at 15 Taurus makes this a Grand Cross. This is a truly remarkable pattern, bringing together four victim-related asteroids with the planetary energy ruling alcohol and seduction.
Antiope at 29 Libra conjoins Toro, is trine the Sun and approaching station, but will not turn retrograde until ten days after Kavanaugh’s birth, at 0 Scorpio. Antiope has resonance with some of the more unusual aspects of the story, namely the “tag team” nature of Kavanaugh’s alleged assault on Ford, which was joined by Mike Judge (though he took no part physically before Ford broke away and the incident ended).
This is very reminiscent of Antiope’s story of being raped by two males in tandem. Kavanaugh’s participation in gang or train rapes would also fit this energy. Antiope is part of a Grand Trine with the Sun and a stationary asteroid Pecker (!) at 22 Gemini, one of the penis euphemism asteroids, which becomes a Kite with the inclusion of asteroid Nemesis opposed the Sun. Near Antiope is asteroid Kallisto at 2 Scorpio, exactly sextile Bacchus and trined Brett. Europa at 20 Pisces is the least connected, with just a sextile to Cavagna at 17 Capricorn, although also opposing the Uranus/Pluto conjunction.
We’ve seen how Christine Blasey Ford’s PNAs (Personal-Named Asteroids) fit into the chart with these parameters. Kavanaugh’s second accuser, Deborah Ramirez, also has two exact asteroid matches for her name. Asteroid Deborah at 27 Sagittarius is sextile the Sun, exactly semisquare asteroid Lust at 12 Aquarius with Medusa at 11, exactly trined Nemesis, and closely squared Mars at 26 Virgo. Asteroid Ramirez at 5 Aquarius is within orb of Medusa/Lust and also conjoined Venus, exactly semisquare Europa.
Julie Swetnick is represented by asteroid Julia, which at 16 Aries conjoins Zeus at 15 and is part of the Grand Trine/Kites involving Aristaeus. Typically PNAs in association with other chart points will resonate and activate those energies when we interact with someone of that name, like striking a tuning fork. We are predisposed to view these individual through the lens of the point’s archetypal meaning or vibration. So a meeting with someone whose PNA activates a sexually-coercive asteroid is like a celestial open invitation to rape.
“Asteroid clumping” is a phenomenon whereby minor bodies cluster together within a few degrees or at the same degree of various Signs, comingling their energies and effects; “asteroid reverberation” occurs when this clumping involves similar or related energies. This reinforces their impact and exponentially increases their power, as opposed to mere clumping, which can actually reduce effectiveness if the blended energies are antithetical, and so cancel each other out. As defined above, we can see many instances of this in Kavanaugh’s chart, although granted, we’ve got a lot of these points to work with.
Astrology is not a criminal court, establishing guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; the closer analogy would be to a civil suit, where the standard of proof is a preponderance of evidence. Given that, the prominence of sexually-coercive related asteroids and the startling resonance of these points linked directly to PNAs representing his accusers, suggests there may indeed be a founding fire behind all the smoke.
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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