Alex's Asteroid Astrology

On January 13, 2022, a year and a week after the event, the US Justice Department issued its first indictments for seditious conspiracy related to the Epiphany coup attempt in the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency.  Elmer “Stewart” Rhodes, founder and leader of the right-wing militia group Oath Keepers, was among eleven members of the group charged in what prosecutors described as an organized, preplanned plot to storm the Capitol on January 6^th last year, to disrupt and prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

Rhodes was born in Connecticut in 1966, grew up in the Southwest, and joined the army after high school, becoming a paratrooper.  Given an honorable discharge after a nighttime jump accident, he enrolled in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, graduating in 1998.  Rhodes then migrated to Washington DC, where he worked as a staffer and campaign aide for libertarian Representative Ron Paul (R-TX), a perennial presidential candidate and father of Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), then continued his education at Yale Law School, graduating in 2004, afterward clerking for Arizona Supreme Court Justice Michael D. Ryan. 

A former concealed-carry firearms instructor, Rhodes lost the use of his left eye in 1993 when a dropped revolver discharged and injured him.  He has worn a patch over that eye since the incident, giving him his trademark rakish appearance; coupled with the adoption of his middle name Stewart, shedding the more “th-th-that’s all, folks!” Elmer moniker, Rhodes quicky became a recognized figure in conservative, radical politics, following the defeat of Ron Paul in the 2008 Republican primaries.

Rhodes preaches the gospel of government overreach and creeping Marxism, asserting his defense of the US Constitution; his ardent call to resist has been amplified with frequent media appearances on far-right, conspiratorial platforms such as radio host Alex Jones’ Infowars, and cooperation with right-wing groups, including extreme Tea Party factions.

In 2009, Rhodes officially announced the creation of Oath Keepers before a large open-air crowd in Lexington, Massachusetts on April 19^th, the anniversary of the beginning of the American Revolution.  Within two years the group had members in every state, and Rhodes claims to have more than 30,000 enrolled.  In 2014 Oath Keepers briefly joined the Bundy family to take part in a protest against the Bureau of Land Management, but abandoned the ranch before the armed standoff with federal agents ensued.

The group later attempted to insert themselves into high-profile national stories, such as the civil unrest following the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, claiming they were there to support and defend local businesses from looting; the 2015 effort by Rowan County, Kentucky clerk Kim Davis to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples, in defiance of a Supreme Court decision, when they offered her “protection” from unjust imprisonment; and the presidential election of 2016, when plans to monitor polling stations to prevent fraud were announced.

While Rhodes’ birth date has not been available, the skies for his arrest on 13 January 2022 help to fill in the gaps in our astrologic understanding.  A triple conjunction of the Sun at 23 Capricorn with Pluto at 26 Cap and asteroid Nemesis at 22 Cap suggests a spotlight (Sun) on retributive actions (Nemesis) against terrorists (Pluto), with terrorism defined as violence perpetrated for political ends.  The day also witnessed the perfection of a square from the Sun to TNO Eris at 23 Aries, noted for its connection to strife and discord, and representing populations who consider themselves marginalized, disrespected, or otherwise insulted and sidelined.

A number of PNAs (Personal-Named Asteroids) can be used to represent Elmer Stewart Rhodes, and among them are asteroids Stuart and Rhodesia, which at 16 and 18 Aries conjoin Eris and square Sun/Pluto/Nemesis, tying Rhodes directly to the major celestial event of the day.

A grouping of asteroids Washingtonia, Rhodescolossus, House and Troemper at 2, 8, 9 and 10 Scorpio respectively, ties Rhodes (Rhodescolossus) directly to the nation’s capital (Washingtonia), the Capitol building itself (House, for the House of Representatives, where some of the worst of the violence occurred), and the president he was there to defend (Troemper, our celestial referent for Donald Trump).  Squared by Saturn at 13 Aquarius with Mercury exactly conjunct asteroid Icarus at 10 Aquarius and asteroid Themis at 11 Aquarius, we see penalties (Saturn) applied by the Justice Department (Themis, named for the Greek goddess of justice), for rash, reckless acts (Icarus), which forms the news (Mercury) of the day.

The Scorpio stellium also participates in a Grand Trine Kite pattern, with trines to asteroid America at 9 Cancer and Merrick at 6 Pisces, for the US and its prosecuting Attorney General, Merrick Garland, with a precise conjunction of Uranus (rebellion, insurrection) and asteroid Rhoda (also for Rhodes) at 10 Taurus on the Kite’s string, the point which guides its direction and manifestation.  As backup for the theme of Rhodes brought to justice, we find a T-Square of asteroid Justitia (named for the Roman goddess of justice, and the root of our word) at 2 Sagittarius, opposed asteroid Stewart at 8 Gemini, with asteroid Merrick at 6 Pisces on its fulcrum.

But the strongest statement yet of Elmer Stewart Rhodes’ arrest on this date is an exact conjunction of asteroids Elmer and d’Arrest at 28 Virgo, opposing asteroid Rhoads (phonetic match) at 29 Pisces.  Elmer and d’Arrest are both at station, about to turn retrograde, signaling a literal “change of direction” for Elmer Rhodes, due to this indictment.  Both bodies made their stations January 17^th, just four days after Rhodes’ arrest.  In addition, asteroid Rhoads conjoins Neptune at 22 Pisces, representing imprisonment, as well as zealotry and fanaticism.

Rhodes was also highlighted on the day of the insurrection itself, 6 January 2021, with a conjunction of asteroid Rhodes at 22 Capricorn with the Sun at 16 Capricorn, Pluto at 24 Cap and Mercury at 26 Cap, in a T-Square with an Eris/Mars conjunction at 23 and 29 Aries, and asteroid House at 22 Cancer.  This depicts Rhodes (Rhoads) as central (Sun) to the planning (Mercury) by disaffected elements (Eris) to violently (Mars) disrupt certification (Mercury) of the election, occurring on the floor of the House of Representatives (House).  Although Rhodes is not alleged to have entered the Capitol itself that day, he was on the grounds, instrumental in planning and directing his troops from the sidelines.  Note that the failed coup’s Rhoads placement of 22 Capricorn exactly mirrors the Nemesis placement for his arrest a year later, with Rhodes called to account for his role then.

Rhodes was similarly spotlighted on 19 April 2009, when his Oath Keepers organization was formed in Lexington, Massachusetts.  The Sun at 29 Aries conjoins asteroids Rhodescolossus exact with Nemesis at 24 Aries and Massachusetts at 27 Aries, all points squared asteroid Steward (for Stewart) at 27 Cancer and Washingtonia at 2 Leo, identifying Rhodes (Rhodescolossus, Steward) as the center of attention (Sun) in the Bay State (Massachusetts), in a role as opponent (Nemesis) of the government (Washingtonia).  As well, an exact pairing of Mercury and Lexington at 18 Taurus opposes asteroids Rhoads and Rhodesia at 9 and 15 Scorpio, T-Squared asteroid Stewart at 17 Aquarius with Jupiter at 22 Aquarius.  This identifies Stewart Rhodes (Stewart, Rhoads, Rhodesia) as author of a political (Jupiter) speech (Mercury) in the Massachusetts town (Lexington).

Note also that the Sun’s degree for the founding of Oath Keepers is an exact match for the Mars degree of the failed coup.

Gee, I guess this astrology stuff really works!