Early in life as I child I accepted that there were some things in life I would never know for sure although I had this idea that when I died I would finally have the answers to my personal mysteries. The most pressing mystery at that time was about the location of a lost elephant pendant (did I really drop it in the cracks of the porch stairs?) and the second most important mystery was about my lost turquoise ring. I clearly had trouble keeping jewelry on my body.

Today I still accept I’ll never know for sure in a Dateline episode if the man really did push two different women down the stairs or if, truly, one slipped and one was attacked by an owl and tumbled (up the stairs in this case). Truth is always stranger than fiction (which is why I prefer truth) and while I always form an opinion while watching Dateline, it’s purely for intellectual pleasure and I continue to accept I’ll never truly know what happened, since I wasn’t personally involved.

Astrology and crime

Speaking of Dateline, Ohio has experienced an event that will probably be an episode some day. In April 2016, eight members of a Pike County family (the Rhodens) were murdered. This month four members of a different family were arrested and charged with the murders.

Is there some astrological configuration for someone who murders?

I don’t believe so. There are many people born on the same day (and time) and they do not all behave the same, as is evident with twins, although they may share certain motivations. The chart (for me) can describe situations and motivations, but not the actions themselves.

We all have the same horoscope but with different energies playing out in different ways in different areas of life. None of us experiences life in the exact same way – even in the same situation. We can share the same parents, manager, and spouse as another and experience them in entirely different ways.

From Tending Two Shops by Rumi:

…That’s why you see things in two ways.
Sometimes you look at a person
and see a cynical snake.

Someone else sees a joyful lover,
and you’re both right!..

The horoscope can indicate challenges and frustrations and even reactions but not the particular action that will be taken. You are easily frustrated by being cut off in traffic. Do you clench your jaw and respond angrily to those in the car with you or do you pull out a gun and shoot the offender?

If your environment focuses on violence, maybe you are encouraged to pull out the gun. If you environment focuses on peace, maybe you find other ways to filter aggression such as physical activity. The reaction may be described in the horoscope but the action is not.

Wagner Family

While the horoscope doesn’t (to me) indicate whether someone has committed a crime, I thought it would be interesting to look at the charts of those being accused of the murders of the Rhoden family. If nothing else, being accused of a mass murder represents a major, traumatic, life event.

In the Pike County records, I did not find the records for the recent arrest, but found other records and believe I’ve identified the two of the four Wagner family members accused of the murders – the father George Wagner III and the mother Angela Wagner.

George has sun in Gemini and moon in Libra. Angela has sun in Libra and moon in Aries or Taurus. The first thing that struck me about this couple is their differences in communication style.

Angela has Uranus conjunct Mercury (in Libra) and Mars conjunct Pluto in Virgo. These are indicators of constant, rapid communication (Uranus/Mercury) often disjoined and likely caustic and cutting (Pluto/Mars in Virgo). If the moon is in Aries, there’s an additional aggressive overtone.

George in contrast has a conjunction of Venus, Mercury and Saturn in Taurus. While the Gemini sun thinks much, the expression of those thoughts is stunted. There is a taciturn nature and what is spoken is very direct and literal which to some can be refreshing and to others offensive or rude.

Although George may not appear social, he has a grand air trine (sun, Mars, Uranus/moon) so is very interested in people and what they are doing. George’s chart lacks water (unless the rising sign is water) so there is a detached nature, one that is never fully emotionally connected to others.

Angela’s chart is more difficult to analyze not knowing where the moon is placed. If the moon is in Taurus, then there is a lack of fire which indicates low confidence and overall vitality. Moon in Aries adds vitality and self-assertion. This self-assertion is not the same as the Mars/Pluto verbal assertion which is critical and cutting but not necessarily Aries courage and energy.

Angela in contrast to George does have water in the chart with Jupiter, Venus and Neptune in Scorpio. Saturn in Taurus opposes these planets indicating a sensuality that is judged as negative from others. The Taurus/Scorpio axis when there are oppositions can create sensuality and judgement or a feeling of guilt from the enjoyment of physical pleasures.

Trouble with the law

Trouble with the law comes usually in the form of hard Saturn (authority, limitation, restriction) or Pluto (power, destruction, transformation) aspects. On November 13, 2018 when the Wagners were arrested, Saturn was in five degrees of Capricorn and Pluto in 19 degrees of Capricorn. Capricorn itself is authority and these planets indicate changes for all of us with regard to authoritarian structures.

Angela’s sun is in Libra and George’s moon is also in this sign. The sun-moon connection is usually a good one for marriage and gives a sense in this case of Angela being more dominant (her sun, his moon). Transiting Pluto squares Angela’s sun and George’s moon. Pluto square is powerful authority gnawing at your heels. Libra has a sense of fairness so for both Angela and George there is a strong sense that they are being mistreated or judged unfairly.

Saturn in Capricorn is squaring George’s Uranus so there may be true surprise on his part that his Uranus freedom is being curtailed. His preponderance of air signs likes freedom of movement.

Libra is the sign of partnership and is not happy or comfortable when alone. The parting of these two due to incarceration is probably unbearable. No matter what their relationship may look like to the outside world, they are probably very connected and highly dependent upon each other.

While Saturn is in only five degrees of Capricorn and hasn’t fully aspected Angela’s sun or George’s moon, the actual square is coming. In the spring of 2019, Saturn will be in 20 degrees of Capricorn making a more complete square (90 degree) aspect and will also be conjunct transiting Pluto. It will get very intense for Angela and George at that time.

Uranus and Jupiter

While Saturn and Pluto are the planets I look for in a murder-incarceration situation, it’s interesting to see how other (mostly outer) planets are aspecting the horoscopes.

Transiting Uranus moved into Taurus last May but has gone retrograde (apparent backward motion) into Aries and won’t go direct again until January 2019 and won’t re-enter Taurus until March 2019.

While we don’t know the sign in which Angela’s moon resides, Uranus is definitely transiting this area of her horoscope, regardless of sign. Uranus on the moon creates erratic and unpredictable reactions due to unusual and sudden situations.

With her Mars/Pluto in Virgo and Uranus/Mercury conjunction, Angela is nervous and jittery in general so today must be highly anxious.

In George’s chart what’s interesting is that natal Jupiter is in zero degrees of Sagittarius (retrograde). Depending on time of birth, Jupiter could be in late Scorpio. That Jupiter was changing signs as George was born, an energy shift that probably impacted his personal energy.

Natal Jupiter (in either sign) is conjunct Neptune in George’s horoscope indicating a love of heightened pleasure which can include all the normal addictions: food, intoxicants, sex and gambling. On November 10 of this year, transiting Jupiter moved from Scorpio to Sagittarius.

When George was arrested, the very same energy shift that occurred when he was born occurred once again just three days earlier. This is a transit that occurs every 11.86 years (a Jupiter cycle around the sun) so George may have had a life of 12-year cycles with some sort of challenge to this energy.

If this is energy of the situation for George, it’s possibly he was born into a family with addictions which affected his energy and now has taken him to this transformative period of life. He may have also been born in an environment that wasn’t quite connected to reality. Today’s situation may have that same unreal quality to it.

At the time of the murders in April 2016, transiting Saturn was retrograde in 15 degrees of Sagittarius which opposes George’s natal sun. Saturn had spent the previous year transiting this trigger point of natal Jupiter and Neptune in the early degrees of Sagittarius. Regardless of what actually occurred (or didn’t occur) in this situation for George, there may be a sense of delusional detachment from it.

The other Wagners

When I find the birthdates for the two sons also arrested (Edward and George IV), I will add those to this blog.

Since there is a clear name lineage here, I looked up the English kings George III and George IV. In another fascinating symbol, the English George III (the George who lost the American colonies) was born on June 4, 1738, the same day (June 4) as George Wagner III.

Is that why he was named George?