Time Bomb
An astrological exploration of the trial of Timothy McVeigh
and the preceding chain of events.
On March 31st, 1997 in Denver, the trial of Timothy McVeigh for the bombing of the Murrah building in Oklahoma City opened at 9:00am. This trial is the latest in a series of events that leads back to the initial raid on the Branch Davidians by federal ATF agents on February 28, 1993. This raid occurred two days after the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City. Earlier that February, Uranus made the first of three conjunctions with Neptune in Capricorn. As the raid on Waco happened, Neptune and Uranus were passing overhead still only 29 minutes apart. The fundamentalist severity and separatists’ longing for the past is clearly a Neptune in Capricorn manifestation. Joined with Uranian violence and individualism, it yields terrorism both against and by the government. (This powerful aspect also in Capricorn last occurred 171 years ago when the U.S. was also focused on individual rights versus the power of the state in the debate over the western extension of slavery which resulted in the Missouri Compromise of 1821. This conjunction is exactly on Timothy McVeigh’s 8th house cusp and forms a grand trine with his Pluto/Uranus conjunction in Virgo and his Mars in Taurus. An earth grand trine calling out for concrete action. His natal Pluto conjuncts the fixed star Denebola which symbolizes “To go against society”.
A chart with Gemini rising, but without any Air planets, can be like making bricks without straw. The need to communicate is the prime feature of the persona, but Mercury has only the blinding conjunction with the Sun and a weak cross-sign trine to Jupiter for aspects. With Mercury located in the 11th house, McVeigh seeks group membership and a sense of social purpose. The Mercury/Sun sextile to the M.C. provides opportunities to come before the public and make a statement using the 11th house Sun to affect society’s values. The missing Air element insulates McVeigh in his own subjective world very much like a lack of oppositions. He really doesn’t understand the impact of his actions on other people.
He is an overall Taurus whose ruler, Venus, is in detriment in Aries conjunct Saturn in its fall. Venus here expresses as martial values, aggressive action , and anger in situations where sympathy might be more appropriate. Saturn, thus placed, shuts down the empathetic side of Venus even more. Military life would clearly be attractive as an ideal. Life is viewed in heroic terms, one man against great odds and powerful enemies in a Taurean struggle of personal values and power. The inconjunct to Pluto/Uranus could be stretched through the Uranus/Neptune sextile to form a Yod with this Venus/Saturn pair. These outer planets are social forces manifesting as the Gulf War, Ruby Ridge and Waco to shatter the idealism of McVeigh’s Pisces Moon in trine to Neptune. Social forces which marked a sharp turning point in his life and the nation’s. The impact is national because of the 10th house Moon and because Venus is conjunct the North Node. The late Barbara Watters argued that the impact of any planet connected to the Moon’s Nodes is broadened out into society and has “karmic” implications. Even planets in different signs, but the exact same degree, seem to share this expanded nodal resonance.
His Pisces Moon might mitigate the harsh Venus/Saturn pair, were it not opposed by Pluto and Uranus. Neptune, ruling this Moon, receives the two tightest aspects in his chart: the sextile from Uranus and the square from Jupiter in Leo. The sympathy he feels for the victims of Waco doesn’t extend to the workers in the Murrah building, because they’re all symbols of the betrayal that he wants to avenge. The Pluto opposition deepens this rage into murderous intent. Uranus cools the Piscean sympathy and adds a dangerous messianic subtheme.
Neptune is also involved in his T-Square: opposed by Mars in Taurus and squared by Jupiter. This T-Square releases into the 9th house; McVeigh may even be pleased to be on trial as a martyr expressing his near fanatic idealism. The Jupiter/Neptune square ensures that he thinks he has the truth within him. This combination of Neptune in Scorpio squared by Jupiter in Leo also expresses itself as an idealization of personal commitment. Loyalty and good faith are overriding values. This faith was shattered when his mother left the family for another man. Later the government betrayed him by refusing him a home in the Army. Mars opposite Neptune lets McVeigh see himself as champion of the underdog and downtrodden, needing to tilt at the windmills of the late 20th century, while the square to Jupiter requires him to make his own unique political statement. The trine from Mars to Pluto/Uranus violently channels this into the 4th house of home and country. In bombing the Murrah Building, McVeigh is lashing out at his mother and the Army even more than the federal government.
The Fuse is Lit
The 9:47am chart for the 1st Waco raid is a “how not to” example of electional astrology. The Moon is Void in late Taurus, ruled by Venus in detriment in Aries. Venus rules the chart and is applying to square the Neptune/Uranus conjunction. The federal agents, as initiators of the action, are ruled by this Venus in the 12th house of self undoing and sneak attacks. They thought they were going to “swat” the Davidians like flies. Venus is nodal and opposite Jupiter in Libra, which brings to mind the conflict between personal liberty and rights (Venus in Aries), and social rules and the laws (Jupiter in Libra). The nodal position broadens the resonance of this conflict. Bring in the Mars in Cancer making a wide T-Square, and the basic themes of the patriot separatist movement are all included: the right to defend your home, the 4th Amendment right to bear arms, and the need to do so against a tyrannical government.
This same Venus is just 12 minutes away from McVeigh’s natal Venus, 10 minutes from his natal Saturn, and 1 minute from their midpoint. The gunfire in Waco lit a spark in McVeigh’s head. His Aries Venus/Saturn needed to take action, and their closest aspect, aside from a symmetrical pair of semi-sextiles to the Moon in Pisces and Mars in Taurus, is an inconjunct to his Pluto/Uranus conjunction.
On the day before the raid, Mercury stationed retrograde at 24 Pisces 11, trine to Pluto, which had just stationed retrograde, itself, on the 26th at 25 Scorpio 31. This unusual pair of stations in trine amplifies the energy of this aspect but confounds the electional outcome. Pluto rules the 7th and resides in the 7th. Both trine the 4th house cusp. This 4th/10th axis conjuncts the U.S. Chart’s Mercury - Pluto opposition, and so this invasion of a home touches a ready fear button in most Americans and deepens the suspicions of those who view the government as their enemy. Retrograde Mercury trining the 7th house ruler argues that the Branch Davidians were tipped off to the raid in advance and that the ATF agents had poor intelligence. This is also suggested by Mars ruling Venus from the 3rd and in a separating square. The retrograde Mercury also indicates that this raid would have to be done over.
The Scorpio Pluto receives a square from Saturn in Aquarius ruling the M.C. from late in the 10th, which again charges the issue of individual liberty versus police power. This Pluto is conjunct McVeigh’s Neptune with only 16 minutes of orb. Six hours before, the exalted Taurus Moon left the square to Saturn, opposition to Pluto, and sextile to Mercury, when it tied together both stationary planets and Saturn in a T-Square. This T-Square fits neatly into McVeigh’s tight Jupiter Neptune square (5 minutes of orb) and reinforces his own T-Square, making a grand fixed cross. Small wonder he felt himself a player in the midst of a titanic power struggle. It’s unlikely his chart would ever receive another call to arms as powerful as this.
The violence of this February T-square was released into the 4th house and the nation watched. But void Moons and retrogrades don’t support desired outcomes. Instead the result was death, media disaster, and igniting the fuse of the McVeigh time bomb.
Detonation
The significance of April 19 - Patriots Day - dates back to the Revolutionary War, when colonists fought a pitched battle against the British at Concord. Antigovernment patriot groups hold that date dear, and federal agents have launched a number of raids against other extreme groups on April 19. April 19th, 1993 is a case in point.
At 6:00am the FBI announced over loudspeakers “If you come out now, you will not be harmed.” and “You are under arrest.” At the same time, assault tanks were ordered to begin injecting gas into the Davidian building.
This time the federal agents had a better electional chart. The Aries Moon will make its last aspect sextile to Saturn in Aquarius, but first it must complete a triple conjunction with the retrograde Venus ruler of the 7th, Mercury (not retrograde), and the Ascendant, all in Aries, all ruled by Mars in Cancer in the 4th house, and all square the M.C./I.C. axis. Mars is in mutual reception with the Aries Moon. Other than an inconjunct to Saturn, Mars ruling the federal agents is “void,” but strengthened by the mutual reception to the early Moon. The Sun in the last degree of Aries is also “void,” indicating that no decisions could be made at this time. Venus ruling the 7th from the 12th, only receives the Moon’s conjunction and is clearly weaker than the angular Mars.
Just as in the chart of the first raid, Venus opposes Jupiter in Libra and, again, the aspect is separating. The Mercury - Jupiter opposition is tight and mutually applying, which expressed itself in extensive media coverage. The fiery combination of Moon, Mercury and Venus in Aries opposing Jupiter in Libra can be fully symbolized by the images the nation saw on TV: a burning home surrounded by agents of the law.
Again, we have two planets making stations: Venus and Neptune will both station in 3 days. Venus had stationed retrograde 10 days after the first Waco raid, and remained retrograde throughout the standoff, holding the federal agents in place.
Uranus and Neptune, still conjunct, were high in the sky above the smoke and flames.
Timothy McVeigh was watching TV in Michigan that April morning. The Denver Post reports he visited the Waco site sometime after the massacre. Also from the Denver Post: “I liked the look of those guys. They were high and close,” said retired Marine Walter “Mac” McCarty, referring to McVeigh and Fortiers’ military haircuts. “We got to talking sometimes down at the store about the world situation. They were upset about Waco and so was I. I got the feeling they were trying to feel me out a little bit, find out if I was a radical enough guy to be interested in helping them out with something they might be trying to do.’’ Doing something is not easy for someone whose chart ruler and Sun are weakly aspected except for their conjunction. Set in McVeigh’s 11th house of group activity and focus on social values, their planetarily unaspected condition leaves him free to do as he pleases, but frustrated at his inability to integrate his life. The one available channel to make his mark on the world, is the sextile to the M.C. Clearly, he’s made use of this. The only solar aspect is a tight semi-square from the waning Moon. This aspect reemphasizes the 11th house and the square tension between the power of society and the freedom of the individual (10th/1st). Perhaps the exact sextile between the Waco Massacre Sun at 29 Aries 24 and McVeigh’s Ascendant at 29 Gemini 31 provided both opportunity and motivation for him to make his point.
Since both his Moon in Pisces and Venus in Aries are nodal in the 10th house, McVeigh may be quite willing to sacrifice himself for his cause, like a soldier. The opposition to his Moon from Uranus and Pluto, conjunct in the 4th in Virgo, lights up a workplace target in his sights, and the trine from Mars in Taurus pushes the button. The trine from the transiting Uranus/Neptune conjunction, and the Pluto conjunct his Neptune, supply the timing.
Explosion
168 people died when the Murrah Federal Building was bombed at 9:20am on April 19th, 1995. April 19th was obviously selected to remind the people of the United States of Waco and our militant right wing of Patriot’s Day. The Sun sextiles McVeigh’s Gemini Ascendant, and Gemini is rising in this chart just like that of the Waco Massacre. Gemini rising, along with Mars in the 3rd house at 16 Leo 47, trining McVeigh’s Venus, Saturn and North Node, suggest both an assault and symbolic statement by vehicle. Venus is separating from a conjunction with Saturn in the 10th, as she is in McVeigh’s chart. The Sun, ruling the Mars and the 4th house of outcomes, is making a tight square to Uranus and inconjunct to Pluto. The mutual reception of the Sun and Mars, unhappily, added energy to both, and channeled the potential violence of the Sun-Uranus-Pluto aspects into the Ryder Van manifestation of the 3rd House. This 3rd house Mars is the fan-handle of this chart, receiving even more emphasis. It would be more than 10 days before the New Moon in Taurus signaled a change in this pattern. The national media focused on little else.
This Moon is not void and, sadly, squares Venus the ruler of the 5th (children) before trining the Sun. Since the Ascendant ruler is in the 11th, it’s doubtful that McVeigh acted alone or without the support of a group. Uranus and Neptune spell out sudden explosive death from the 8th house and Pluto in the 6th puts it in the workplace. Jupiter in the 7th should have protected the workers but it’s unaspected, retrograde and maybe it did; whatever didn’t happen remains unknown.
Note that the Bombing Sun conjuncts McVeigh’s Mercury, and his Sun conjuncts the Bombing Mercury. Both charts have the Sun conjunct Mercury, indicating that Mercury’s natural reasoning powers have been lost in the glare of the solar ego. Underneath the political statement, there’s a cry for recognition.
Oklahoma City was legally founded at noon on April 22, 1889 by an act of Congress. On April 10, 1995, Pluto opposed the city’s Neptune, which rules its 8th house. Mars squared the city’s Mars/Venus conjunction in the 10th. The city, the Bombing and McVeigh all have Sun/Mercury conjunctions - ALL CONJUNCT. McVeigh’s Sun conjuncts the city’s M.C. Sadly, his Mars is conjunct the city’s Mars. This was a place for him to make his explosively violent message known.
The Aftermath
When the trial of Timothy McVeigh opened at 9:00am on March 31st, 1997, the Aquarius M.C. was less than a degree from Saturn in the first Waco assault. Mars is again a fan handle, only this time it conjuncts McVeigh’s Pluto/Uranus in Virgo. Once again, Saturn and Venus are conjunct in Aries, as in McVeigh’s chart. Here they are joined by the Sun in triple conjunction within a degree and 2 degrees from the Waco Massacre Ascendant. Mercury conjuncts the Bombing Sun and the Waco Massacre Sun. Since it rules the trial for this bombing, this is appropriate.
As initiator of this trial, the prosecution is represented by the Gemini Ascendant and, thus, ruled by Mercury. The fact that ruling Mercury is but 3 minutes from the exact degree of the Moon’s Node broadens the potential importance of this trial for society at large. Jupiter accidentally dignified in the 9th in Aquarius conjunct the 8 Gemini rising USA M.C., reinforces this. Information and access to this trial (Mercury) have been tightly controlled by Judge Matsch. The survivors of the bombing and relatives of the victims were barred from the proceedings by the judge, and only by forcing a law through Congress were they granted remote access. His lack of sympathy for the victims is indicated by the lack of water in this chart as well as the Capricorn Moon square to Saturn. The issue of the rights of victims to confront the defendant and to process their anger and grief through the legal process is reflected by the only aspect Mercury makes. This is a square to Neptune which, of course, also squares the Waco Massacre Sun and bombing Sun. They won’t really confront McVeigh, only his image on a TV screen. One reason the victims were not allowed into the courtroom, was the logistical problem presented by the sheer numbers of affected parties. (More Mercury square Neptune) Jupiter in Aquarius in the 9th, ruled by Uranus similarly placed, yielded a solution: a remote viewing site in Oklahoma City connected by closed circuit TV (Uranus in Aquarius), and controlled by a retired judge. Jupiter and Uranus in the 9th also point to the media frenzy already underway.
The Neptune squared Mercury also rules Virgo, which is intercepted in the 4th house of outcomes or endings. This suggests confusion, missing information, and deception. There is little doubt from the massive evidence collected that McVeigh was deeply involved in the bombing, but the real question is whether all the conspirators have been identified and charged. The chart suggests that this is unlikely.
Lying in the 3rd house of the defense (really the 9th, but the 3rd from the 7th house’s point of view), the Jupiter/Uranus pair, in combination with the Mercury/Neptune square, describe the extensive and clever uses the defense has made of the media by leaking pseudo confessions, hints of additional conspirators, a second Ryder truck and so on. The prosecution’s Leo 3rd house is tightly controlled by Saturn, in its fall, conjunct the Sun viz. Judge Matsch.
Mars is retrograde and resides in the intercepted Virgo, and is ruled by the deluded Mercury. Since this Mars rules the chart ruler, the 4th house outcome, the Sun and Saturn, a retrial is indicated. This Mars also conjuncts McVeigh’s Pluto/Uranus.
The Moon, which rules the 2nd house, is in the 7th, which represents the defense. Newsweek reports that as of March 31st, the defense had spent $10,000,000 of the state’s money not to mention the cost of “thousands of agents [who] worked hundreds of hours” for the prosecution.
Trials and punishments have always been a form of entertainment in the U.S., with the ruler of the 9th house in the 5th. The Simpson trial broadcast Pluto’s transformative action in Sagittarius on national TV, making legal experts of the citizens, and exposing the obvious inequities in a system where money buys the best defense. A trial’s original and primary purpose was to identify the guilty and assign punishment, while protecting the individual from abuses by the state. A more recent goal is to allow the victims and their families to achieve closure. The hundreds of affected relatives of the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing, make this second goal most significant in this trial.
Timothy McVeigh’s trial also illuminates even larger issues, as Uranus, Neptune and Pluto move through the last third of the Zodiac: Our current government is seen as patently corrupt and ineffective, yet we can’t return to the 19th century, much as some of us want to. Nationalism is no longer a useful governmental form; borders are melting, yet there’s very little consciousness of world citizenship. The state invades our private lives more and more, and gathers more power as fear erodes our civil rights, yet our streets and cites are unsafe. Few of our citizens can take an astrological step backward and view this process objectively. The individual feels he’s lost and powerless, as if our collective Suns and Chart Rulers are unconnected, like Tim McVeigh’s. It’s sobering to consider how many other fuses are burning out there in people who feel cut out of the American Dream, terrified of the future, and angry enough to take some action......any action.
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