Saturn meets Pluto – irresistible force meets rigid obstacle

Two news stories caught my eye this week so I decided to look at the charts of the individuals involved.  To my surprise the charts were remarkably similar.

On Wednesday 5 September 2012 Oakland A’s 6-foot-7 pitcher Brandon McCarthy was hit in the head by a line drive.  He suffered an epidural hemorrhage, brain contusion and skull fracture, which required head surgery Wednesday night.  He is apparently recovering well as I write this.  McCarthy was born on 7 July 1983 in Glendale, California, time unknown.  His sunrise chart is cast for 5:52:08 AM PDT.

Here is McCarthy’s sunrise chart with the approximate chart for the accident superimposed (I could not find the exact time in news reports):

McCarthy natal sunrise chart with baseball to head accident superimposed.

Note how transiting Saturn is almost exactly conjunct his stationary natal Pluto at the time of the injury.  Saturn is a ruler of the natal 8th house, linked to surgery and life-threatening conditions.  Pluto is the modern ruler of Scorpio, which has similar symbolic significance.  Scorpio is on the 5th cusp of games and recreational activities, like baseball.

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In a separate news event, on 6 September 2012 at about 8:40 AM a man named Christopher Shell was pulled off a US Airways flight that had just left Philadelphia headed for Texas because someone called in a tip that he was carrying explosives.  It turned out to be a hoax.  Speculation by authorities is that Mr. Shell’s ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend perpetrated the hoax.  If so, he will face prison time.  The new reports said that this event occurred on Mr. Shell’s birthday.  He was born 6 September 1983 in Fort Worth, Texas, time unknown, and had just celebrated a solar return.  The sunrise chart for Mr. Shell is cast for 7:10:49 AM CDT.

These two men who made the news mid-week were born only two months apart, so their charts have a lot in common.  Both are 29 years old and going through the period of their Saturn return.  Perhaps coincidentally both men are quite athletic.  They each have Pluto in late Libra at about 27 degrees.  Transiting Saturn is conjoining natal Pluto in both charts.  Pluto symbolizes powerful or explosive forces.  Saturn symbolizes laws, rules, barriers, obstacles, gravity, and governmental authority.  When transiting Saturn meets natal Pluto, we are often confronted with the limits imposed by laws, either man-made or natural.

Here is the natal sunrise chart for Christopher Shell with his current solar return superimposed:

Natal sunrise chart of Mr. Shell with solar return superimposed.

Christopher’s solar return occurred just 12 hours prior to the incident in which he was taken off the plane.  The angles of the solar return return to the same angles as the natal chart, indicating a highly memorable and significant year — one he will never forget.

Notice how SR Saturn is applying to conjoin his natal Pluto (the conjunction becomes exact on September 15), and Pluto is symbolically linked to Scorpio and the idea of vengeance.  Today’s news reported that the new boyfriend perpetrated the hoax to avenge Shell’s ex-girlfriend” after Shell posted a compromising picture of her on Facebook.  Pluto is the modern ruler of the sunrise chart 3rd house of communication and Saturn is the ruler of the 5th house of romance.

SR Saturn is also closely applying to sequi-square the natal sunrise MC, suggesting restraint and limitations caused by difficulties with those in authority.  Interestingly, Christopher Shell finally got a later flight to Texas and was arrested on arrival in Texas for old drug charges.  I guess the lesson is not to travel when transiting Saturn is conjoining natal Pluto, ruler of the 3rd house, and also sesquisquaring the natal MC.