Alex's Asteroid Astrology

Yeah, well, you can’t expect cupids and flowers from yours truly on Valentine’s Day, right?  Something a bit more twisted is on offer here, but it does involve asteroid Valentine 447.

It’s the infamous St Valentine’s Day massacre, perpetrated in 1929, when seven gang members were slain in a Chicago garage by associates of a rival gang, competing for dominance in Prohibition-era Illinois.  The killers have never been positively identified, but suspicion rests with former members of Egan’s Rats, now working for Al Capone, in the mass shooting at 2122 Clark Street in Chicago’s Lincoln Park section.  Competition for bootleg liquor smuggled from Canada was the proximate cause of the feud between the North Side Gang and Capone’s Chicago Outfit; some of the killers were disguised as police and the rival mobsters were slain with Thompson submachine guns, the romanticized “Tommy gun,” the most powerful weaponry of the period.

The massacre occurred at approximately 10:30 AM CST on 14 February 1929 in Chicago, with asteroid Valentine at 11 Capricorn, semisquare the 25 Aquarius Sun, appropriate for the day set aside to honor the 3^rd century Roman saint who was martyred on that date, and has since become associated with hearts and romance.  With Valentine is asteroid Osiris 1923 at 8 Capricorn, named for the Egyptian god of the dead, directly associating the holiday with mortality that year.  From there, Valentine participates in two major configurations, a Grand Cross and a Grand Trine Kite pattern.

The Cross is formed by squares to Uranus and Venus at 5 and 12 Aries, ruling shootings and financial issues respectively (with money being the root of the conflict between the gangs), and an exact pairing of asteroids Atropos 273 and Nemesis 128 at 11 Libra (exactly squared Valentine), and opposed asteroid Lincoln 3153 at 5 Cancer (for the Lincoln Park location).  Venus here may also relate to the sartorial splendor of the victims, who, true to their gangster style, were all dressed up in Sunday best, complete with suits, ties, topcoats and hats.

That Valentine/Lincoln polarity also forms the String of the Kite, completed by trines from Valentine to asteroid Thompson at 19 Taurus, for the weapons used, and asteroid Ratte 159409 at 14 Virgo, representing Egan’s Rats, the likely perpetrators.  Thompson also aligns with the 24 Taurus Ascendant, in a second Grand Trine Kite with TNO Ixion 28978 and asteroid Requiem 2254 at 25 and 26 Virgo, and asteroid Gunn 18243 at 23 Capricorn, the String formed by asteroid Clarke 4923 at 29 Pisces, opposed Ixion/Requiem.  Ixion is named for the first murderer in Greek myth, Requiem is named for the funeral mass for the dead, Gunn is a phonetic match for “gun,” and Clarke reflects the Clark Street address of the massacre.

Gunn also does double duty, as part of a T-Square, opposed Pluto at 19 Cancer, ruling homicide, criminal acts and mobsters (also the modern lord of death), with the Moon at 25 Aries on its fulcrum.

Further indicators of a bad day in the Windy City include asteroid Chicago 334 at 7 Sagittarius, conjoined asteroid Anubis 1912 at 0 Sag, named for the Egyptian deity ruling funerary rites, both squared Neptune at 0 Virgo, ruling alcohol.  An exact conjunction of Mars with asteroid Parks 5585 at 22 Gemini suggests violence and gunplay (both Mars) in Lincoln Park (Parks), affirmed as fatal by a T-Square, opposing Saturn, ancient lord of death, at 28 Sagittarius, and squared Clarke at 29 Pisces, once again alluding to the locale.

There’s no indication that the date chosen for the massacre was significant, as a warped expression of Valentine cheer, though it’s possible that some were off their guard, thinking about a romantic rendezvous planned for that evening.  In a way, the shooting can be seen as a love letter to the Chicago Outfit’s boss, safely out of town at his Florida home that day:  a sort of gift of affection from the boys.  Personally, I prefer chocolate.