Beheading
Not only was the news this morning sad, it was troubling, horrifying, grotesque, macabre — satanic even.
I’m referring to the murder of the American hostage Abdul-Rahman Kassig and 18 unnamed Syrian troops by Islamic State. All were gruesomely killed for the camera, and the video was posted on-line.
There is a star in the sky specifically associated with decapitation. This is the “Demon Star”, Algol, named also the Medusa’s Head.
This bright star is visible in the sky right now. For directions on finding it, click here. It’s part of the constellation Perseus, named after the Greek hero who severed snake-haired Medusa’s head and used it to turn Cetus, the sea monster, into stone. Even in death, her gaze, you see, lapidified.
Algol is the eye of Medusa. According to Star Names and Their Meanings*, “the Hebrews knew Algol as Rosh ha Satan, Satan’s Head…. but also as Lilith, Adam’s legendary first wife, the nocturnal vampyre from the lower world that reappeared in the demonology of the Middle Ages as the witch Lilis…”
Algol is currently at 26’19 Taurus. Today, Saturn, Venus and the Sun are opposing the Medusa’s head, and Jupiter and Lilith are squaring. The midpoints of these groups are almost exactly at 26°. However, I wonder how long ago this video was actually shot. It may have been when Jupiter and Lilith were closer.
When Peter Kassig converted to Islam earlier this year, he changed his name, as is the custom. This was a symbolic change from “the rock”, Peter, to the “servant of mercy”, Abdul Rahman. In fact he was captured when he was bringing food and medicine to refugees within Syria, on a mercy mission. Astrologically, you might say it was a switch from Saturn to his own Sun in Pisces.

This is a possible chart for Abdul Rahman né Peter Kassig, but I have only one source for his birthday and no birth time, so it may be wrong
I believe Abdul Rahman Kassig’s birthday is February 19, 1988. He would have started his charity, which was bringing aid to people in Syria, under the massive emotional and spiritual transit from idealistic, self-sacrificing Neptune directly to his Pisces Sun. There is a little part of so many Pisces that leads us to believe we are saviours. Kassig truly was. He helped many people and probably saved hundreds of lives. He had the generational signature — Uranus, Saturn, Neptune in Capricorn — which is idealistic, self-motivated, and highly practical — and it exactly sextiles his Sun. These people won’t sit around wringing their hands about the miseries of the world; they’ll jump in a truck and do something. With Uranus involved, that something might be kind of crazy sometimes. This generational stellium was hit by Pluto starting in 2008 and for years afterwards.
This servant of mercy was living his Pisces Sun when he died; this is the sign of sacrifice and compassion, and he did follow his destiny; North Node is also in Pisces. Chiron, the asteroid of suffering and healing, is exactly square to his Nodal axis from Gemini. All are at 23°. It’s tempting to see personal suffering that might become news in this configuration, especially since Chiron opposes Mars (violence) in Sagittarius, foreign countries. No wonder he worked as a medical relief in war zones.
On the day, we hear of his death, Jupiter is conjuncting his natal Lilith in Leo by transit. His own Jupiter in Aries (trine Mars in Sag), the planet which pulled him into adventure, almost exactly semi-sextiles Algol. Jupiter in Aries likes to make up its own rules, go his own way. Stony Saturn stopped that with an exact quincunx, the aspect which says something’s gotta give. Saturn, death, was also trining his NN.
Cetus was sent by Poseidon to punish Queen Cassiopeia for boasting about her daughter Andromeda’s beauty. (Andromeda chained to the rock is an image of Venus in Scorpio.) The Queen dared to suggest that her mortal daughter was as good-looking as Poseidon’s nereids — a mistake.
This is the other side of Neptune, dispatcher of a terrifying force from beneath the ocean of the collective unconscious.
Neptune turned direct today, so built up energy has been released into the collective. This planet rules slander, deceit and propaganda and film. All the outer planets manifest some kind of monster. From Uranus we get Frankensteins, from Pluto we get Draculas, from Neptune we get a dread, an unnamed and unnamable fear, creeping horror.
Of course, Pluto and Mars have just conjuncted and they are squaring Uranus in the sign of the warrior, Aries. Uranus in Aries — the hooded jihadi. Pluto and Mars together account for the sheer sanguinity and cruelty of what took place.
If the birthdate I have for Mr Kassig is correct, then he would have met his killers with love and compassion. His Venus, love, had progressed to an exact opposition to his natal Pluto, death. And transiting Venus was trining his Moon.
Here is an excerpt from the letter he was able to smuggle out to his parents while he was in captivity.
“Just know I’m with you. Every stream, every lake, every field and river. In the woods and in the hills, in all the places you showed me. I love you.”
*Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning by Richard Hinckley Allen was first published in 1899. Dover reprinted it in the 1960s. If you find a copy, hang on to it.
Effing bastards.
I’m not that compassionated. (I have natal Pluto Square Saturn and Moon.)
I have no idea how I would react – but I know I’d feel extreme rage and not forgive those who’d take so violently my life away.
Bastards.
I think that’s a perfectly natural reaction, I feel it too. Pluto opposition Mars-Saturn! & Lilith on the DESC.
These people are nazis & need to be dealt with ruthlessly. We know that if you’re dealing with a psychopath you can’t expect him to respond to reason or love; it’s the same when you’re dealing with a psychopathic group.
“These people are nazis & need to be dealt with ruthlessly.”
Absolutely and totally Agree.
Hi Christina,
let’s hope these cruel creatures ( ………… I can’t use the word men for them, because I feel they are not human …………….) get caught and brought to justice.
I will always oppose the death penalty and revenge is not a sentiment I think is right. They should not be sentenced to death, that would be too easy for them to get off.
Maybe, however, they can be made conscious of their insanity and then be made to relive it every second of the rest of their lives in prison / cages, like looking into the eye of the .Medusa and feeling what the rest of the world is feeling right now !
mimi
For beheading, I think it’s also Uranus (sudden separation) in Aries (head). Especially, as now, when in hard aspect to Mars. Gruesomely literal astrology.
Good point.
I wonder about the symbolism of covering their heads with those dark hoods. I know, on the obvious level, it’s to not get “caught” or bring attention to themselves I suppose. But, on another level, it’s that they are headless themselves, without minds, without logic or reason. They are darkly shrouded in their attire, having given over to their shadow selves, without reason, logic, but also without heart, humanness , humanity lost. They are the walking dead really…
I agree with you, Nancy, that’s very well put. It’s the hood of invisibility that Pluto wears, the executioner’s mask.
This hidden face is a theme of the Uranus-Pluto configuration. We saw it also with the Anonymous masks. Indeed, you could say anonymity itself is a theme. The Anonymous mask from V for Vendetta is also sinister. (There’s a post about it somewhere on this website).
Then you have tied that in with the current trend in popular culture for zombies. What’s behind the mask, possibly a void. You don’t wear a mask to become more human… but, as you say, to lose your humanity.
I have been looking at Rembrandt’s self-portraits…. now there’s a real mensch.
Isn’t it sad that not every man, woman or child in the world is able to see these paintings in real life ?
I am convinced that anybody who has seen these paintings by Rembrandt or Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo or whatever other great artist, will appreciate life better and worship it more. It simply makes you a better person ! There is no way that anyone would behead another person after seeing such beauty.
In the spring I went to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Sooooooooooooooooo beautiful !!!
mimi
…. on a less profound note, I’ve often thought that US foreign policy would be much more effective if they just dazzled the world with Fred Astaire flicks instead of sending in the troops. Can anyone hate a culture that produced Top Hat?
Something like a Lovecraft stories, yeah? We have no clue what it is, but it’s not human and it’s not admirable.
Anyway, I wonder about that uranus in aries inconjunct mercury-pallas. Clearly, these are news about the war (pallas). And because mercury-pallas conjunction is in scorpio, these are of course threatening news. But it also means a secret, not everything has been told yet.
And for beauty, well, unfortunately there are too many monsters who are not blind about it at all. Just think about Hitler, he admired art. He loved everything which was beautiful and then wanted to destroy everything which was not (in his opinion, of course). So, it works either way.
Lovely tribute to his sacrifice. Are there any positive associations with Algol? Taurus 26 is my native sun, and life is quite wonderful for me right now.
Well, that’s a good question. You must be having an opposition from Saturn now too! And you just had Venus looking right at you as well.
Traditionally, of course, it’s all bad, but then if you rely on traditional astrology for your interpretations, things would be either terrifyingly and inevitably awful, or fabulously and inevitably terrific.
I suspect that it has some of the good qualities of Lilith — bravery,transformative power, strength. I’m interested that you are having a great time right now. Is this recent or over the whole year. I ask because I wonder if there’s some affinity with Saturn which is stony since Medusa turned things to stone.
The other thing that springs to mind for me, just thinking mythologically, is the snake hair. Snakes are associated with healing and magic, and I think Medusa’s blood was said to heal or poison, depending which side in flowed from. There is a hint of magic here. I feel that you may have that and the ability to hypnotise perhaps.
The snake-goddess is a really ancient archetype in the near east, connected to Lilith, and in a convoluted way to fairies and witches. These are powerful, independent women.
I would need to have a proper troll through my charts to check the real astrology though. I would be interested to see how Algol worked in the charts of women in a man’s job, say Catherine de Medici, Mme de Pompadour and Hillary. I’ll get back to you.
OK — Hillary’s NN is at 24° Taurus – which would put it on Algol. With precession, the fixed stars move 1° every 72 years or thereabouts. It’s also in her 7th house of partnership — Bill nearly got impeached, in fact he pretty much had his political cojones removed. Be interesting to look at the transits around then.
Mme de Pompadour (born 1721, so algol’s still further back in Taurus) has the Moon-Neptune at 22° Taurus opposite Saturn at 26° Scorpio.
Catherine has a stellium in Taurus but not close enough so that’s a strike out.
Two out of three — not bad. These archetypes always work for men and women though, so it needs further thought.
Wow, thanks! To answer your question, my year was miserable until July/Aug, when I bravely decided to walk away from both a stifling job and a dead-end relationship. Since then, brilliant new doors have opened in both areas. Yes, I work in healthcare and have been described as magical. 🙂 Thanks for the insights and the perspectives on famous women!
Nice. You know, about a week ago I read a lot about Algol because I know a person with venus conjunct that star. However, fixed stars don’t work the same way as planets does, they are not so much about energies, but about potentials. Not everyone with a personal planet conjunct regulus becomes famous. Actually, only very few people does. The same thing with Algol and other fixed stars. And sun conjunct a fixed star doesn’t have as much impact as, let say, moon, because sun is a star itself.
I also carefully read the posts on energy vampires you recommended. And just today I start asking myself – is it possible that my boss is a „luck“ – vampire? Yes, a luck vampire. 😀 Because, you know, he is the luckiest person I have ever met (not the happiest, though). He became very rich in a very short time (actually since I start working in the enterprise) without any noteworthy investment, or a necessary education, or whatsoever. It’s a miracle, really. He wins every day, not only money, but also sport competitions and everything. But at the same time many people who surround him are loosing their luck. Last week I said to him that I’m not going to extend my employment agreement and he became panic. It was not normal. So, I took a look on his jupiter and it’s retrograde and squares mars and saturn. Not an explanation for his luck, but also not enough to make him a luck-vampire (I love this word). But now I took a look again and yes, of course, it’s on 24° taurus. Do you think that something like that is possible (a luck vampire)?
Tell me about Regulus! I have it rising and I’m still waiting for the phone call. 😀
I agree about fixed stars and I think it’s quite mysterious as to why they work for some and not others. Needs more investigating I think.
Luck vampire – why not? It’s a great phrase!
I have my MC at 27º Leo – still waiting for the same call. However, I just thought of something: what if a Draco Planet or element conjuncts that same natal degree? (Regulus, Spica, Algol, whatever) – then, probably, will have a greater importance on that person’s life (maybe).
I confess I had to look up Draco planets & came across this by the excellent Kim Falconer http://www.falconastrology.com/draconic.html
Thank you for the link, Christina. I will eventually read it carefully. When I first started to experiment with draconic charts they didn’t make much sense to me. And even now I find them only accurate when compared with natal. They work especially well for extraordinary people who live their life to the fullest. Some things are only to explain trough the draconic charts. Successful, altruistic and influential people with no natal planets on MC, but with draconic jupiter on the very top of the chart. Or a golden yod (draconic planets to the natal) which explains their life better then only natal.
IMO, draconic chart shows your early childhood. Your character before it was irreversible formed by the environment (as well the dreams and the hopes you had as a child). Example: Draconic jupiter in the 3rd conjunct natal pluto. It could mean that the person, in the childhood, was overly optimistic about the siblings and the peers, but then being harshly rejected. That’s why so many astrologers talk about „underlying motivations“. Perhaps that traumatic experience with siblings would not have been that traumatic and life-changing, without that jupiter who originally hoped for the best (but got the worst).
The most beautiful thing about the draconic planets is that they are actually still there, and that we can use them, but we are not forced to do so. That draconic jupiter in the 3rd could mean that the person actually has a gift for writing, even if she (or he) is not always aware of it. And the negative aspects can be ignored. Draconic planets are hidden treasure.
I had the thought that Mr. Kassig and other victims as well actually the Christ energy reincarnated and that they are bringing light to a desperately dark situation.
I remember hearing an interview with Rabbi Hugo Gryn about his time in the camps. The question was where was God when you were in Auschwitz? The answer: in the camps also.
Hi Christina,
I thought I would check the efemerides and saw that the current Pluto/Saturn-cycle started on 8th November 1982 – they were conjunct on that date in Libra (27 degr.) – Guess what, Chiron was at : 25 degr. Taurus (nearing Algol)!!
I’m dreading January 2020 when the new Pluto/Saturn-cycle will begin (this time in Capricorn). Chiron will be at 1 degr. Aries by then.
mimi
I went to an astroconference this autumn and there were was quite a lot of muttering around this date. I wonder if Saturn being in Cap will make it any better?
I think it can be either way – Saturn can intensify Pluto in the negative, but of course together they could work out in a very positive way.
The planets only give us their energy – human kind has its own will and the outcome of this is only up to us. We cannot blame the planets.
Judging from the behaviour of the world leaders throughout this very dangerous period since the Uranus / Pluto square I think for us it will turn out right or let’s say not to bad.
For the Middle East I don’t know; there are forces at work there that are not so easily addressed.
mimi
Beautiful tribute Cristina. And am relieved & intrigued by this Algol discussion – thanks Jeanne for your question. My IC is 29° Taurus, 3h. NN is 4° Gem with Nessus conjunct at 5°: 4h. It’s a formidable little run given the traditional interpretation of Algol & the myth of Nessus. I don’t know what to make of it.
Algol is not close enough to your IC to conisder it as a conjunction. Algol is a fixed star, so I would look for 1 or max. 2 degree orb. However, maybe your birth time is not that precise.
And for Nessus, there are some identity issues. Maybe you changed your name during your life, or you have an alias. Moved away from your birth place, living in other culture… changing identities. Identity issues are linked to some family conflict whose roots extend far back in the past. Prominent Nessus is a gift. It asks you to understand that violence over generations, often just change the form but not the intensity. Once you have understood that it’s not important only to differ / resamble your parents and your grand-parents but to look at the bigger picture, without jugding, you may break that vicious circle.
Thanks so much Eleonora. That makes perfect sense.
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