Alex's Asteroid Astrology

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has come under scrutiny for his orders relating to the recent attacks on supposed Venezuelan drug-smuggling ships in the Caribbean, even suffering friendly fire from Republicans.  Reportedly, at the first such attack on September 2, 2025, Hegseth gave the order to “Kill them all,” leading to a “double tap,” a second bombardment of the already destroyed vessel, when survivors were seen clinging to the wreckage in the aftermath. 

This is in direct contravention of the international laws of war, as well as the US Army Manual, both of which specify that no further action may be taken against enemy combatants who are injured, shipwrecked or otherwise incapacitated, and no longer constitute an active threat.  Indeed, help is to be rendered to such individuals.  The order was illegal, and could be charged as a war crime, if these capricious hostile actions against ships at sea, without offering proof of guilt, can legitimately be considered acts of war.  If not, then Hegseth could be charged with simple murder.

In either case, the Defense Secretary (who likes to manfully style himself as “Secretary of War,” hooah!) is in serious jeopardy, and the manifestly unqualified Pete Hegseth could soon find himself reapplying for his old job hosting at Fox News.

It was a bad week for Hegseth.  On Friday 28 November, the Washington Post broke the story of the illegal kill order, and all hell broke loose.  Then on December 2^nd, the Pentagon’s watchdog Inspector General determined that he had jeopardized sensitive military information and could have endangered American service members when he shared certain details about US military operations in Yemen in a private Signal group chat last March.  That scandal threatened to overwhelm the newly minted Defense Secretary at the time, but support from Trump and GOP Senators embarrassed by their recent vote to confirm him in his post, despite serious reservations, kept his fat out of the fire.

But Hegseth is fairly sizzling now, and may soon be too hot to handle, as the revival of the March controversy dovetails with this new, potentially criminal, charge.

Born 6 June 1980 at 8:28 PM CDT in Minneapolis, MN (Rodden Rating AA), Pete Hegseth’s current situation is foretold in the birth chart, which features the Sun at 16 Gemini cojoined asteroid Bomben 12834 at 15 Gemini, both aligned with the 11 Gemini Descendant.  This suggests that Hegseth strongly identifies on a highly personal level (Sun) with the bombings (Bomben) of these ships, as an integral, self-defining feature (Sun).  Indeed, on the day after the first strike, Hegseth appeared on his old alma mater at Fox News to crow about his direct involvement in the attack, stating definitively that he had witnessed it firsthand and was fully aware of the situation he had prompted.  This investment in a smalltime maritime military venture of this nature is highly unusual in a Defense Secretary, who would not normally pause his duties to personally view the obliteration of a few alleged drug-runner small fry. 

The Sun/Bomben pairing also participates in a T-Square with an opposition to asteroids Nemesis 128 and America 916 at 7 and 10 Sagittarius on the 11 Sag Ascendant, with a Mars/Saturn conjunction at 12 and 20 Virgo on its fulcrum.  Nemesis with America on the Ascendant suggests that, at some point, Hegseth could be publicly viewed (Ascendant) as a source of ruin or destruction (Nemesis) to his country (America). 

Mars with Saturn is a nod to a career (Saturn) related to the military (Mars) which, again, is somehow self-defining (Sun), but also has the potential to wreak havoc (Nemesis) on the US (America) military (Mars).  Another marker of Hegseth’s personal identification with his current job is a union of asteroids Peter 1716 and Bellona 28 at 5 and 6 Capricorn, with Bellona named for the Roman goddess of war – to use a parlance with which Hegseth would no doubt approve, “this time, it’s personal!”  (His formative stint at Fox News, which brought him to Trump’s attention for promotion to the Pentagon in the first place, is seen as asteroid Fox 16248 at 27 Capricorn, which is embedded at station, indicating a prime importance in his bio, and trine career-minded Saturn, sesquiquadrate the Sun.) A Grand Cross is formed with asteroid Panacea 2878 at 11 Pisces, named for the Greek goddess of medicines and pharmaceuticals, legal and illegal, suggesting drugs will be pivotal in his role at the Pentagon.

The vital importance of Venezuela in Hegseth’s story is anticipated by an exact triple conjunction of the Moon with asteroids Venezuela 9357 and Whitehouse 4036, all at 28 Pisces, given additional Angular heft by conjunction with the 4 Aries IC.  If those degrees sound familiar, they should, with transit Saturn and Neptune playing cat-and-mouse with these points through much of 2025 and into 2026, including station activations.  Saturn represents penalties and consequences, Neptune erodes and undercuts, also promoting deception.  Hegseth’s story about his direct involvement in the incident has changed on a virtually daily basis since the WaPo story broke, with attempts to minimize his responsibility, shoving it off onto the admiral who issued the actual orders, falling flat.

As well, asteroid Caracas 11083, named for Venezuela’s capital, lies at 1 Leo, exactly semisquare to the Sun, also semisquare Mars/Saturn, placing it in pivotal juxtaposition to key elements of the story.  Caracas is currently exactly opposed by transit Pluto, which rules devastation, transformation and criminality (as well as being the planetary ruler of homicide), and came to its direct station at 1 Aquarius in October.  Thus, transit Pluto is also exactly sesquiquadrate his Sun, involving Hegseth in a scandal (Pluto) related to fatalities (Pluto as modern lord of death), and leaving him wide open to criminal charges linked to homicide.

Additional intimations of the current circumstance in the natal chart include a pairing of TNO Ixion 28978 (named for the first murderer in Greek myth) and asteroid Achilles 588 (indicating weakness or vulnerability, as in Achilles heel) at 13 and 17 Scorpio, making Hegseth inherently vulnerable (Achilles) to a homicide (Ixion) charge.   As well, a conjunction of asteroid Skiff 2554 and Damocles 5335 at 0 Pisces and 29 Aquarius suggests a looming threat or peril (Damocles) related to small seacraft (Skiff, a small boat).  Transit Damocles has been activating this region on and off over the past year as well, with Hegseth’s subsequent Damocles Return bringing that innate peril home to roost.

Hegseth’s character includes a very strong streak of recklessness, as exemplified by his history of alcoholism and domestic and sexual abuse, indicated by asteroid Icarus 1566, which represents rash, reckless acts heedless of the consequences, often taken regardless of countervailing advice.  Icarus at 5 Aries conjoins the lunar stellium and the IC, and was further activated by a Solar Eclipse at 9 Aries on March 29^th.  Its exact square to asteroid Peter signals it’s deeply enmeshed in his character, another defining feature, and one highly visible to others.

Hegseth’s Sun was hit in T-Square by the Lunar Eclipse of September 7^th at 15 Pisces/Virgo, and will be activated again on March 3^rd, 2026 by another Lunar Eclipse at 12 Virgo/Pisces.  Both eclipses also activated natal Mars at 12 Virgo, in the first instance, pushing him into the job for which he is manifestly unqualified, and perhaps shoving him out of it by the next eclipse.  Persons ignited by eclipses often become the object of scrutiny, and can be especially vulnerable to criticism and negative outcomes during the period of activation, roughly 3-6 months on either side of the eclipse date.  This indicates up to a full year of such peril.

As things transpired, that initial strike on September 2, 2025 involved not one hit, but four, in a literal act of overkill.  Embedded at station and trine the 10 Virgo transit Sun are transit asteroids Shipka 2530 at 6 Capricorn and Caracas at 18 Capricorn, both poised to turn direct.  This suggests momentous developments in connection with Venezuelan (Caracas) shipping (Shipka).  Caracas turned direct two days later, marking a major turning point in US relations with that government.

Shipka is closely conjunct transit TNO Ixion at 5 Capricorn, which exactly conjoins Hegseth’s natal Peter, personalizing the conflict to him, with Shipka exactly conjunct natal Bellona, suggesting war (Bellona) crimes (Ixion) directed at seacraft.  Ixion/Peter is Exhibit A in the charge of murder for the Defense Secretary.

Transit asteroid Peter at 8 Sagittarius is widely conjoined transit Icarus at 0 Sagittarius, and both square the Sun’s union with Mercury at 0 Virgo, and asteroid Panacea in attendance at 1 Virgo, reiterating the theme of drugs.  This doubles down on Hegseth’s native instincts for rash behaviors and decisions (Icarus), now repeated in the transit sky.  Mercury represents those choices, and is also significant in that the “Kill them all” order was a spoken command (with Mercury ruling speech), while the Sun in square to Peter puts Hegseth in the spotlight, for good or ill.  Note also that the transit Sun conjoins natal Mars at 12 Virgo, highlighting Hegseth’s martial bent, while transit Peter conjoins his natal Nemesis/America pairing, suggesting this incident could create blowback for the US.

A T-Square is formed from Sun/Mercury/Panacea to a telling conglomeration of points in Gemini, leading off with Uranus at 1 (ruling explosions such as bombings generally, as well as shocking or unacceptable acts, and unexpected developments), followed by asteroids Bombig 100519 (“bombing” without the “n”) at 4, Venezuela at 8, and Skiff at 11 Gemini.  This portrays the unexpected, sudden (Uranus) escalation in the heated rhetoric between the two countries (Venezuela), resulting in the shocking (Uranus) second bombing (Bombig) of survivors from the attack on the small seacraft (Skiff), allegedly smuggling drugs (Panacea).

Transit asteroid Bellona at 2 Libra conjoins transit asteroid Troemper 28130 (our celestial marker for Donald Trump) at 6 Libra, squared transit asteroid Donn 4689 at 2 Cancer; this is Trump’s (Donn, Troemper) war (Bellona) for sure.  A T-Square with Neptune at 1 Aries and Saturn at 29 Pisces shows it as misguided and a probable deception, distraction or misdirection (all Neptune) which may result in dire consequences, censure or criticism (all Saturn).

By the time the Washington Post story broke on November 28^th, the somewhat vague allusion to homicide provided by transit Ixion conjoined natal Peter is brought into real time, with a vivid celestial accusation of murder, rendered as transit Ixion at 6 Capricorn, joined by transit asteroids Icarus, Peter and Boattini 8925 at 8, 9 and 11 Capricorn.  Consider that Exhibit B in the case.  Hegseth’s (Peter) recklessness (Icarus) in ordering the second attack on the boat (Boattini) is now seen as a homicide (Ixion), with the exact conjunction of Ixion to natal Bellona suggesting a war crime. This grouping squares transit asteroid Achilles at 13 Libra, leaving Hegseth exposed and vulnerable.

The transit Sun at 6 Sagittarius is conjoined by transit asteroid Nemesis, the bringer of destruction, at 3 Sag, opposing transit Uranus, now at 29 Taurus, still with transit asteroids Bombig, Venezuela and Skiff in tow (at 4,7 and 8 Gemini respectively).  Transit Damocles at 29 Aquarius forms a T-Square, signaling impending threat or peril for Hegseth.

Transit asteroids Shipka and Caracas, stationary for the strike, have continued their stately progress through Capricorn together, and are now bracketing Pluto at 1 Aquarius, from 28 Cap and 8 Aquarius respectively.  This is another cosmic way of saying that the attacks on seaborne (Shipka) Venezuelan nationals (Caracas) is indeed a crime (Pluto), and quite possibly murder (also Pluto).

At station now are transit asteroids Washingtonia 886 and Bomben, conjunct at 18 and 20 Leo.  Indeed, the bombing (Bomben) in the Caribbean seems to have created quite a bit of blowback in DC (Washingtonia), for Hegseth in particular but also for the administration generally, as the issue of whether or not the president has the authority to take such actions without a formal declaration of war by Congress has again become front-of-mind, even in the GOP, where slavish devotion to the Dear Leader is beginning to wear thin.