"My truth is that I am a gay American."

—Governor James McGreevey (D-NJ)
12 August 2004

We might have expected much from a Mercury retrograde which started at 8 Virgo, exactly between Black Holes Tiamat and Apsu at 7 and 9 Virgo, but few were prepared for the stunning revelations by New Jersey’s Governor, which followed later in the week of the Mercury station. On Thursday, August 12, Democrat Jim McGreevey called a press conference to announce that he was gay, that he’d had an extramarital affair with a man, and that he was resigning as Governor effective November 15.

Stunned doesn’t begin to describe it.

The Governor has been married twice and is the father of a daughter by each wife, and is about to be sued for sexual misconduct by his former homeland security advisor and reputed lover, Israeli-born Golan Cipel. McGreevey cited issues of distracted focus, the effect on his family, and the vulnerability of the governor’s office to blackmail in his decision to come out publicly to avow his sexuality and the affair, and resign.

But that wasn’t the only high profile gay-themed news that day. The California Supreme Court by unanimous decision declared that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom had overstepped his bounds in directing the county clerk to register same sex marriages last February, and those marriages were annulled.

Even a novice political astrologer will see a pattern here, and the Deep Space Detective was not long in launching an investigation. Sleuthing for clues to the celestial puzzle involving human sexuality, we will of course look for activity involving Venus and Mars; and for sexuality deviating from the norm, we’ll want to see if Uranus, Neptune or Pluto is active in aspect to them.

As further qualifiers of sexuality, or at any rate, sexual attitude, we also have a variety of asteroids to consider. For the purposes of these news stories, and particularly McGreevey’s, I chose to ascertain the whereabouts of asteroids Sappho (an early Greek lesbian poet), Ganymede (Zeus’ cupbearer and bun boy), Antinous (Roman Emperor Hadrian’s deified male lover, whose cult once far eclipsed that of Jesus Christ), Lust (for obvious reasons) and Pecker (which speaks for itself).

First, as to the day in general—the Sun at 19 Leo was exactly trine Pluto, already conjoined Black Hole Ereshkigal at its upcoming station degree of 19 Sagittarius. We can expect some secrets to be revealed with this linkage, possibly as muck-raking (Pluto) which is perhaps self-exposed (Sun). Taken in tandem with Mercury still at its station degree of 8 Virgo and sandwiched between two Black Holes, we can expect the revelations to be bizarre and unexpected, and as Mercury is retrograde, these will likely involve reversals of opinion or status quo. The conjunction with Mercury to both Mars at 0 Virgo and Ganymede at 3 Virgo shows the disclosures to be of a sexual (Mars) nature, particularly emphasizing homosexual energies and a possible abuse of power via a socially imbalanced affair (both Ganymede). Ganymede is further exactly conjoined a Pulsar, guaranteeing a high public profile and "newsworthiness" to the announcements.

Venus, arbiter of romance and intimacy, is exactly conjunct Black Hole Parvati at 4 Cancer, indicating a dramatic reversal or disclosure in matters of the heart. Venus is also closely conjoined by Antinous at 3 Cancer, reiterating the gay theme on the intimacy side of the human sexual polarity, as Ganymede with Mars reinforces the purely sexual aspects.

Uranus at 5 Pisces is exactly conjunct a Quasar, promoting pervasive manifestation and a high profile or public visibility, and opposed the Virgo stellium while closely trined Venus/Antinous. Uranus linked with Venus and/or Mars often signifies deviance or variation from the norm in intimate/sexual matters, the social outcast or iconoclast, maverick and eccentric. Asteroid Lust at 9 Pisces retrograde is conjunct Uranus and opposes Mercury closely.

Jupiter and Saturn both tie to the Sun/Pluto axis; Jupiter at 20 Virgo being semisextile the Sun and square Pluto, Saturn at 21 Cancer being semisextile the Sun, sextile Jupiter, and inconjunct Pluto. Jupiter tends to inflate the situation, and also implies a prominent role for a judiciary in the day’s events. Saturn involves a chief executive, resignation, and legal status, and again indicates lawyers or legal professionals, particularly ones placed in high authority.

Although largely unaspected to the rest of the day’s celestial patterns, Neptune, Sappho and Pecker were all galactically active that day as well. Neptune at 13 Aquarius is exactly conjunct Black Hole Attis, named for a mythological character with vaguely gay associations (he castrated himself for love of his mother Kybele) and indicative in its galactically-sensitive position of a huge disappointment or massive deception. Sappho at 27 Taurus is exactly conjoined a controversy-provoking Maser, and Pecker at 10 Gemini is exactly opposed Black Hole Anubis. Pecker is also squared Mercury, Uranus and Lust.

So we are clearly dealing with variant human sexuality, controversy, deception and disappointment, legal standing and judicial rulings; when we look closer at the charts of the major players in the day’s events, Jim McGreevey and the State of California, the picture becomes even clearer.

McGreevey (born 6 August 1957) sports a rather unfortunate mid-Virgo stellium of Lust at 20, Ganymede at 21, and Sappho at 23 Virgo. Attached to Venus at 13 Virgo on one end, and Jupiter at 29 Virgo on the other, it clearly shows a strong same-sex attraction, one which would be difficult to repress and ultimately impossible to conceal, given Jupiter’s tendency to boast and brag, inflate situations, and overplay one’s hand. His own Mercury at 9 Virgo, exactly conjunct Black Hole Apsu, squared and shored up by natal Saturn at 7 Sagittarius, helped him immeasurably to construct and retain the facade he hid behind the first 47 years of his life, but ultimately betrayed him when transit Mercury returned to its natal place for its powerful retrograde station.

Transit Jupiter has recently crossed that Mercury, and is currently exactly conjunct his Lust, while the Pluto retrograde period which ends later this month has highlighted each of these asteroids in turn, beginning with the station exactly square Sappho last March. This one-two punch of revelatory celestials was simply too much pressure to be ignored, particularly as corruption may be involved (his lover and accuser Cipel was admittedly completely unqualified for the position he held in the McGreevey administration, and was subsequently forced to resign), the exposure of which is dear to Pluto’s heart and high on his agenda.

McGreevey's Sun at 13 Leo, exactly conjunct a Maser, indicates one who has the potential to be controversial and disruptive in the extreme. It is currently exactly opposed by Black Hole-conjoined Neptune, indicating coming to terms with one’s true self, revealing deception and coming forth honestly to speak one’s truth. Neptune also is exactly inconjunct natal Venus, an apt image of the disillusion and disappointment his wife and family must be feeling at this time, as well as the deception surrounding the extramarital affair. Transit Neptune further conjoins McGreevey’s natal Chiron at 14 Aquarius; hopefully in the long run, this wounding will bring healing for himself and those closest to him.

McGreevey’s natal Mars at 28 Leo closely conjoins his Pluto at 29, and together they fill in the missing leg of a T-Square of galactic energies at 28 degrees of Fixed Signs, as well as being trine the Galactic Center, implying a universality or unusual prominence to the native’s sexual expression. Pluto/Mars further indicates sexual variance, and the high probability of secretive amours. These are squared by McGreevey’s Pecker at 29 Taurus, itself conjunct the Maser at 28 and the current position of transit Sappho at 27 Taurus.

Transit Mars and Ganymede in early Virgo are closing in on natal Mercury, and Mars at 0 Virgo is exactly sextile his natal Neptune at 0 Scorpio, another reiteration of the sexual deception theme, including the self-deception and attempted abnegation of his true nature which McGreevey states he has struggled with since childhood. Transit Saturn at 21 Cancer is sextile the Virgo asteroid stellium and conjunct natal Antinous at 19 Cancer, which reinforces the Ganymede energies of romantic liaisons with social inferiors, and elevating them to positions of power or prominence without regard to their suitability for these positions.

When we look at California (admitted to the Union on 9 September 1850) we see a clear picture as well.

The transit Soli-Pluto trine becomes an exact Grand Trine with the inclusion of California’s Saturn at 19 Aries, also representing its supreme judicial body. The transit Uranus/Lust opposition to Mercury/Mars/Ganymede ignites California’s natal Neptune/Quasar at 5 Pisces (Uranus in exact conjunction), detailing the disappointment doubtless inherent in the decision for the 4,037 couples involved. California natally sports a strong Sappho/Ganymede conjunction at 27 Scorpio and 1 Sagittarius, straddling the manifestation-evoking Quasar at 28 Scorpio and making the state a natural mecca for gays and lesbians, who will have a high profile there due to the Quasar conjunction, which is analogous to setting a beacon on a hill. On the day of the ruling, transit Sappho at 27 Taurus conjunct a controversy-sparking Maser was exactly opposed its natal position.

The state’s natal Mars/Mercury conjunction at 10 and 12 Libra, within the event horizon of Black Hole Nemesis at 13 Libra, was forming a second Grand Trine with transit Neptune on the Black Hole at 13 Aquarius and transit Pecker at 10 Gemini. Pecker further forms a Galactic Grand Cross by its squares to California’s natal Neptune and transit Lust at 5 and 9 Pisces, transit Mercury and California’s natal Sun at 8 and 16 Virgo, and its opposition to Black Hole Anubis at 10 Sagittarius.

Transit Pluto has been crisscrossing California’s natal Chiron at 22 Sagittarius, and was particularly active last February at the time of the marriages, opening a national wound on this subject that has prompted the current administration to promote a constitutional amendment banning same sex unions.

So there we have it—two dramatic reversals and revelations, both with a gay twist, both emerging from the bizarre parallel realities evoked by Mercury’s station on a tag team of Black Hole energies and heavily influenced by homosexuality-nuanced celestials. But it’s just another day on the cosmos beat for the Deep Space Detective.


**If you’d like to play Deep Space Detective for yourself, check out the asteroid ephemerides at http://ephemeral.info/abe/