Alex's Asteroid Astrology

In the wee hours of Sunday, 13 April 2025, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were awakened by state troopers pounding on the door of the official Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg, PA.  An intruder had been spotted scaling the iron security fence surrounding the property, smashing a window with a small sledgehammer to gain entry, and starting a fire.  The south wing of the residence was badly damaged, but fortunately the governor, his wife, four children, and several houseguests who had been celebrating the Passover seder there a few hours earlier, escaped without injury.

The suspect, 38-year-old Cody Balmer, had fled the scene, but turned himself in the following day, after confessing to a former girlfriend.  Balmer, who has been described as dealing with mental health issues, admitted to police that he “harbored hatred” against Governor Shapiro, and intended to beat him with the sledgehammer had he encountered him.  Balmer has been charged with attempted homicide, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault.

A chart set for 2:01 AM EDT in Harrisburg, PA, the approximate time when the governor was notified of the emergency, reveals much of the celestial underpinning of the incident, which occurred just hours after a Full Moon T-Squared Mars, ruler of attacks, fires and arson.  The Sun at 23 Aries opposes the Moon, now at 26 Libra, with asteroid Nemesis 128, a point associated with ruin and destruction, at 22 Libra, and Mars on the fulcrum at 28 Cancer.

Angular placements show immediacy and are powerful agents in any chart.  Here we see asteroids Kodai 6217 (closest to Cody) at 9 Cancer and Sparks 15129 at 10 Cancer, aligned with the 13 Cancer Descendant, representing the suspect (Kodai) and the instigation of a fire (Sparks).  Cody Balmer’s homemade Molotov cocktail incendiary devices consisted of gasoline in empty beer bottles, and on the 7 Taurus IC we find asteroids Gase 2388 (for “gas,” gasoline), Flammeus 8752 (“flames”), Israel 7507, and Burns 2708, obvious allusions to the gasoline-generated fire.  The presence of Israel here argues for an antisemitic or religious-based attack, which seems likely given its timing, coinciding with Passover celebrations, though no specific motive has been released.  TNO Ixion 28978, named for the first murderer in Greek myth, appears at 7 Capricorn on the 13 Capricorn Ascendant, opposed Kodai/Sparks, reflective of the attempted homicide charge.

Just as telling are the stationary points for the event.  Stations represent critical moments, crucial turning points, which evoke major developments.  Here we see asteroids Flamini 18099 and Flammario 1021, both additional referents for flames, at station from 12 and 16 Sagittarius, accompanied by stationary asteroid Beer 1896 at 20 Sag (harking back to the empty beer bottles which Balmer employed for his weapons).  Also at station is asteroid Fireman 4231 at 21 Leo, a celestial nod to the persons who extinguished the flames.  Flammario turned retrograde on April 3^rd, followed by Flamini on the 4^th, while Beer will not station until April 18^th, but is already at that degree.  Fireman turned direct on April 6^th.

Asteroid Shapiro 3832 at 12 Aquarius is widely conjunct Pluto at 3 Aquarius (modern lord of death), denoting the brush with death, also exactly sextile Flamini and squared the Taurean stellium on the IC.  Asteroid Balmer 12755 at 4 Pisces conjoins Damocles 5335 at 6 Pices, the threat or peril hanging unseen overhead, about to descend at any moment.  Balmer/Damocles is also on the fulcrum of a T-Square with Flamini and a pairing of asteroids House 4950 and Harris 2929 at 0 and 9 Gemini, suggesting the Governor’s Residence (House) in Harrisburg (Harris).  The incident is further rendered celestially by an exact conjunction of Jupiter and asteroid Burney 6235 at 18 Gemini, opposed the Sagittarian stationary points, indicating a connection between a politician (Jupiter) and an arson incident (Burney, Flamini, Flammario).

Untimed birth charts are available for both men, which reveal a startling level of predestination or fatedness between them.  Born 20 June 1973, Josh Shapiro sports a conjunction of asteroids Sparks and Flammario, both at 26 Cancer, and Balmer at 0 Leo, all with Mercury at 23 Cancer.  This unites the suspect (Balmer) with references to arson (Sparks, Flammario) and a newsworthy event (Mercury).  This grouping was highlighted in T-Square by the Full Moon at 23 Libra/Aries just six hours prior to the attack, with Mars at 28 Cancer (attacks, fires) aligned with it as well.  Also activated by the lunation was natal asteroid Burney at 21 Capricorn, opposed the Cancer stellium and completing a Grand Cross.

Shapiro’s stationary points include asteroids Burns at 9 Scorpio (which turned direct on 2 July 1973) and Flamini at 11 Scorpio (direct on July 3^rd), which hint at a major life event (station) related to fires (Burns, Flamini).  Also here is Ixion at 6 Scorpio, bringing in the element of potential homicide, with asteroid Kodai at 28 Libra, conjoined Ixion, for Shapiro’s would-be killer (Ixion).  Also at station is asteroid Harris, which at 28 Aquarius turned retrograde the day of Shapiro’s birth.  This creates a compelling attraction for Harrisburg (Harris) as a major factor in his biography, albeit Shapiro was born in Missouri.

An exact conjunction of asteroids Israel and Flammeus at 3 Virgo again suggests an antisemitic (Israel) motive for the arson (Flammeus).  This was opposed by Balmer/Damocles for the incident, and Balmer is reported as having objected to the treatment of civilians in Gaza (though why he connects Shapiro to this is unclear).

Incredibly, born 23 March 1987, Cody Balmer’s nativity repeats these themes.  A conjunction of asteroids Sparks and Shapiro at 24 and 28 Pisces again combines arson (Sparks) with Balmer’s target (Shapiro).  Imagine the precision of celestial timing necessary to place the same arson referent (Sparks) in proximity with the surname of the victim (Shapiro) in the perpetrator’s chart, and the surname of the perpetrator (Balmer) in the victim’s chart, born 14 years apart.  Truly staggering!

With the Sun also here at 2 Aries, the Sparks/Shapiro connection becomes self-defining (Sun) in some respect, and indeed, this act will doubtless be the defining one of Balmer’s life.  Jupiter at 4 Aries in this mix guarantees Balmer fame (or at any rate, notoriety) from the event.

This stellium was receiving maximum stress from a string of planetary bodies at the time of the attack, with Venus (the loved ones placed at risk) at 24 Pisces exact on Sparks, Saturn (government officials, chief executives) also conjoined from 25 Pisces, Mercury (news) at 28 Pisces exact on Shapiro, and Neptune (mental health issues, fanaticism) at 0 Aries conjoined Balmer’s Sun and Jupiter.  It also squares Shapiro’s natal Saturn/Sun conjunction at 24 and 28 Gemini, and overlays Shapiro’s natal Mars at 29 Pisces.

Balmer’s stationary points are asteroids Israel and Flamini (both at 28 Cancer) and Flammario at 3 Leo.  Flammario turned direct on March 18, 1987, Flamini on the 19^th, and Israel on the 20^th.  Note that Flamini and Flammario are again conjunct, and again at station for both Balmer’s birth and the incident.  Often the repetition of a natal pattern in the transit sky will evoke a manifestation of its potential, as seems to be the case here.  [Consider also that Flamini is at station in all three charts, for a cosmic trifecta hardly to be believed.]  Israel at station could suggest an obsession with Judaism, and its exact conjunction with an arson referent mirrors the precise pairing of Israel and Flammeus in Shapiro’s chart.  Note also that this grouping overlays Shapiro’s Cancer stellium, and was also activated by the Full Moon and Mars for the event.

A pairing of asteroids Harris and Flammeus at 9 and 11 Cancer suggests arson (Flammeus) connected to Harrisburg (Harris).  This links to the incident’s Descendant/Sparks/Kodai grouping at 13, 10 and 9 Cancer.

The transit Flamini/Flammario/Beer stations conjoin Balmer’s natal Saturn at 21 Sagittarius (governors, ancient lord of death), while transit asteroid Balmer at 4 Pisces exactly conjoins his natal Mercury, propelling him into the news cycle in real time.

We may never understand the motivation behind Cody Balmer’s attack, but the incident could have been prevented had authorities paid more heed to calls for help from his family.  In the days immediately before the attack, Balmer, who had been prescribed medication for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, had been observed chewing batteries and acting strangely; family members alerted police, who stated, in the absence of specific threats to himself or others, they were unable to intervene.