SCOTUS Goes Gay

On Tuesday and Wednesday, March 26 and 27, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on two cases involving same sex marriage. On Tuesday, opponents of California’s controversial Prop 8 referendum, which denies marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples, had their day in court, and on Wednesday, it was the turn of the federal government’s Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) supporters to defend denying federal benefits for same sex spouses legally married in one of the nine states currently allowing these unions.

Three major celestial configurations told the story in astrological detail.  Prominent among these was a t-square incorporating the ongoing Uranus-Pluto square and Wednesday morning’s Libra Full Moon. With Pluto at 11º Capricorn squaring off against Uranus at 8º Aries, the struggle involves entrenched power and calcified social structures versus the energies of change and innovation and the rights of individuals to order their lives as they see fit.

This basic conflict was enhanced by the Full Moon, with the Moon at 6º Libra opposing the Sun at 6º Aries, bringing awareness and fruition to the issues highlighted. With the Moon was asteroid Justitia, named for the Roman goddess of justice, at 7º Libra, here representing the SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) and its members. Also here was Sappho at 2º Libra, named for the ancient Greek lesbian poet, and a general symbol for gay-themed issues. With the Sun, in addition to Uranus, that revolutionary change-maker and forward-thinking rebel, was Venus, planet of love, romance, and partnership, at 5º and 6º Aries, over the course of those two days, and Mars, planet of sexuality, at 11º Aries.

This would be enough to tell the tale, but two other patterns emerged that further describe the issues at hand. These comprise two Yod patterns, also known as “the Finger of Destiny,” which indicate a fated, karmic resonance for the time. The first involves Pluto as well, in a close sextile to Saturn at 10º Scorpio, both of these inconjunct to Jupiter at 10º – 11º Gemini, at the apex of the Yod, from where it is conjoined by asteroid Themis, Justitia’s Greek counterpart, at 14º Gemini. Pluto and Saturn are in mutual reception, meaning they inhabit each other’s native signs, and have a special reciprocal relationship. Pluto in Capricorn is an image of generational change and transition coming to social forms such as marriage, while Saturn in Scorpio is an image of conservative traditions encountering deeply transformative energies, particularly in the sexual sphere. Jupiter in aspect to both of these suggests a broadening of how society interprets these issues, as well as reiterating the importance of the Supreme Court in these events. With Themis close by, the inescapable conclusion is that the social scope of justice and equality is extended.

The second Yod is of the “pierced” variety, meaning that in addition to the three planets of a standard Yod, there is a fourth that opposes the Apex planet and bisects the sextile at the base of the pattern. In this case the central opposition is from asteroid Hera, Greek goddess of marriage, at 28º Virgo, to asteroid Eros at 23º Pisces, at the Apex, or focal point, of the Yod. Today Eros is generally considered to be representative of erotic passion, but in ancient times he was viewed as patron of homosexual unions in particular, so together these polarized energies quite simply and clearly spell “gay marriage.” Forming the arms of the Yod are asteroid Ganymed at 20º Leo, named for Zeus’s mythic cup bearer and boy-toy lover, another gay-themed point, and TNO (Trans Neptunian Object) Rhadamanthus at 22º Libra, named for a Greek mythic judge of the dead, once again bringing the theme of justice and the court into the planetary picture for the day. During the period of the two days when the Supreme Court heard arguments on these issues, the Moon opposed Eros, conjoined Hera, and then went on to conjoin Sappho and Justitia as it reached its full phase, an indication of public engagement on the issues represented by these points.

Asteroid Juno is also involved. Juno, named for the Roman goddess of marriage, is at 4º Aquarius closely trined Sappho, Justitia, and the Full Moon in Libra, and more broadly forming a loose Grand Trine with Jupiter/Themis.  Juno is also square to Saturn, suggesting a conflict between the traditional form of marriage and the egalitarian views of Juno in Aquarius on the issue of who can legally wed.

Rulings from the Court will likely not be handed down until the end of the current session in late June, but initial auguries based upon the audio recordings released, which detail the questions asked by the Justices, suggest that the Court is unlikely to make major changes, but to decide these cases very narrowly on their own merits, and not as a reflection of the changing social norms on the issue of same sex marriage.

Bio: Alex Miller is a professional writer and astrologer, author of The Black Hole Book 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. His work with deep space points and asteroids appears monthly at DayKeeper Journal. Alex can be reached for comment or services at glaktix@verizon.net