Alex's Asteroid Astrology

On Monday June 4^th, 2018, a much-anticipated ruling came down from the US Supreme Court. By a 7-2 majority, the justices upheld the right of a Colorado baker to refuse services to a gay couple, based in his religious beliefs. The case centered on a 2012 incident when David Mullins and Charlie Craig approached Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado, and asked him to bake a cake for their wedding.

“I’m sorry, guys, I can’t do that,” replied Phillips, whose religious convictions also cause him to refuse to bake cakes including alcohol, or celebrating Halloween. Mullins and Craig filed a complaint, and lower courts ruled that Phillips’ refusal amounted to a violation of the state’s public accommodation law, which bans discrimination by companies offering their services to the public, based in sex, race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. Philipps appealed the ruling, alleging that the state was openly antagonistic to his Christian beliefs, and eventually the case worked its way up to the SCOTUS in December 2017.

The Supreme Court of the United States, where the vital baking issues of our day are decided

Monday’s ruling supporting Phillips was very narrowly defined, applying to the specific facts of his case only, and leaving open the more general question of whether individuals have the right to refuse service based on their religious beliefs. Anthony Kennedy, who also wrote the decision establishing marriage equality in the US, stated that earlier rulings in Colorado had shown hostility toward Phillips for his beliefs, opining that “These disputes must be resolved with tolerance, without undue disrespect to sincere religious beliefs, and without subjecting gay persons to indignities when they seek goods and services in an open market.” However, he gave no guidance as to how these competing interests should be balanced by courts in future. Similar cases with a broader application are currently working their way through the court system, but this decision gives no hint as to how the SCOTUS might rule when they arrive there.

The 14 Gemini Sun for the June 4^th ruling is conjoined by asteroids Themis, named for the Greek goddess of justice, at 8 Gemini, Carla and Cragg (for Charlie Craig, one of the plaintiffs; there is no “Charles” asteroid, Carla is the Spanish and Italian feminine equivalent) at 13 and 20 Gemini. It forms a Grand Cross with squares to Neptune, ruling faith and spiritual belief generally, at 16 Pisces, allied to asteroid NOT at 13 Pisces, an indicator of negation or refusal; an opposition to asteroid Christian at 14 Sagittarius, identifying the specific faith in question; and a square to asteroid Ganymed, named for Zeus’ cupbearer and boy toy lover, at 13 Virgo, a point which indicates gay issues generally.

The current Justices of the US Supreme Court

With PNAs representing one of the plaintiffs allied to the Sun, one might ordinarily expect a positive outcome, but in reality, all a solar conjunction does is to highlight the individual on a particular day, for good or ill. The victory for Phillips can be seen in the conjunction of asteroid Philippa (for Phillips) at 26 Aries, with an exact Uranus/Victoria pairing at 0 Taurus, opposed by asteroid Jacquey (for Jack) at 28 Libra. Victoria is named for Roman goddess of victory, and Uranus rules issues of equality and discrimination, as well as controversy. Also here is asteroid Sappho, at 29 Aries, an indicator of gay issues (based in its eponym, a famous lesbian poet in ancient Greece). Asteroid Fanatica, suggesting extreme religious viewpoints, conjoins Philippa from 19 Aries (I mean, it’s a friggin’ cake; just take the money and shut up, already!). Asteroid Nike, named for the Greek goddess of victory, appears at 14 Aries, in exact trine to Christian, another indicator of the faith-based defendant’s win.

Baker Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, ironically working on what appears to be a rainbow-colored cake

There is also a T-Square of asteroids Davida and Mullo (for David Mullins) at 27 and 23 Pisces respectively, squared to asteroid Carol (Romanian for “Charles”, another variant depicting Charlie Craig) at 25 Gemini and TNO Ixion at 26 Sagittarius. Ixion, though often noted for murder, also has affinities with issues of entitlement – in this case, the plaintiffs felt entitled to order a wedding cake, and the defendant felt entitled to refuse them.

Defeated plaintiffs David Mullins and Charlie Craig share a moment after the ruling

Asteroid Baker at 0 Virgo opposes Justitia, named for the Roman goddess of justice, at 6 Pisces, and is in sextile and trine to Jacquey and Philippa, denoting the baker in question in this case. Another T-Square is formed with asteroid Karma at 6 Sagittarius, squaring Baker/Justitia, joined by Themis at 8 Gemini to create a Grand Cross. There would appear to be some fated or predestined quality (Karma) to the administration of this confection (Baker) of justice (Justitia/Themis).