What’s In a Name?

Astro-Forensics of the Boston Marathon Bombings

By Alex Miller

When we’re looking at a tragedy of this type, be it the mass shootings at Aurora, Colorado or Sandy Hook Elementary, the assassination attempt on Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, or this latest atrocity at the Boston Marathon, the forensic astrologer has a unique set of tools at his disposal — asteroids; specifically, the more than 15,000 named asteroids, which can be divided into names with mythic resonance, and those more prosaic or everyday.

In addition to the names of ancient deities and mythic figures like Dionysos, Heracles, Isis and Anchises, the heavens are now full of common first and surnames like Anna, Paul, Johnny, Holmes and Stevens, as well as place names like Manhattan, London, Bavaria and America.

While traditional planetary energies will answer the why of an incident like this, these PNAs, or “Personal-Named Asteroids,” can be vital in answering the who, what and where, especially when we have a confirmed when — in this case, the detonation of the first bomb at the finish line of the race, at 2:50 pm EDT in Boston, Massachusetts on Patriot’s Day, Monday April 15, 2013.

It may be difficult to accept, especially in a society as geared toward free will as ours is, but the asteroids representing the proper names of people and places significant to the event regularly appear in positions that describe their roles in the story.

Sometimes the match is exact; sometimes it’s formed by a phonetic, linguistic or associative bond between the subject and an asteroid. In the story of the Boston Marathon, we can begin with two exact matches for the locale, and explain how these fit seamlessly into the day’s events. First is asteroid Massachusetts (#4547), the state in which the bombing occurred.

The underpinning of all these recent tragic events is the ongoing square between Uranus and Pluto, a violent, volatile and transformative clash between forces of entrenched power and those of freedom and individuation. Although these two were not in exact square on the day of the bombing, they are well within orb.

Accompanying Uranus at 9 Aries, which also rules explosions and bombs, is asteroid Massachusetts at 11 Aries, which was also exactly squared to Pluto at 11 Capricorn, firmly anchoring the Bay State to the current manifestations wrought by this dynamic duo. Additionally, Pluto, modern ruler of death, maiming, destruction and terrorism, was fresh from its retrograde station the previous Friday, enhancing its power and force.

There is also an asteroid Marathon (#4356), which at 25 Taurus was closely conjunct the 27 Taurus Midheaven, the point of greatest elevation in the chart, which calls for public, even global, attention and notice. Marathon is also exactly semisextile to the day’s Sun at 25 Aries, an aspect that is minor, but telling in its exactness. The Sun was conjoined Mars, noted for violent death and attack or conflict, an energy which found its natural outlet in the exact aspect to Marathon.

Another celestial synchronicity marking the day was the appearance of asteroid Patria (#1347) at 1 Pisces, closely conjoined the 3 Pisces Descendant and well within orb of Neptune, ruling victims, at 4 Pisces. Patria is named for the fatherland, and is the root from which we derive the word “patriot,” linking us very directly to the Patriot’s Day celebrations which mark the Boston Marathon’s timing, always run on that day.

Leaving aside PNAs for a moment, there are several mythic-named asteroids that also resonate with the details of the tragedy. A prominent feature of these bombings was the many amputations, both of limbs blown apart at the scene, and those removed later by doctors in a desperate attempt to save lives. Preliminary investigation indicates that the bombs’ construction was designed less for killing and more for maiming, spreading as much carnage and injury as possible. At least ten individuals lost limbs, including Paul and J.P. Norden, a pair of brothers, unemployed roofers, who each lost a leg, as did six-year-old Jane Richard, whose brother Martin was one of three who died.

Two ancient myths deal specifically with dismemberment, a more extreme form of amputation, and these make stunning contact to the moment of the bombings. Asteroid Osiris (#1923) plays a dual role here, for as Egyptian god of the dead he appears frequently as an indicator of death. But a vital part of Osiris’ myth involves his dismemberment by his brother Set, who rips apart Osiris’ body in a fit of rage after Isis resurrects him. Asteroid Osiris appears at 28 Aquarius, still within orb of the Descendant and very closely squared that 27 Taurus MC. As the angles change degrees every 4 minutes and are the most fleeting astrological indicator — critical in timing events — Osiris’ prominent angular placement is a key to understanding the importance that amputation had in the story.

Incredibly, the other amputation-related asteroid, Tantalus (#2102), appears exactly with Osiris at 28 Aquarius, heavily reinforcing its emphasis. Tantalus also has another meaning, as a celestial synonym for crimes so heinous they are unforgivable (President Obama unwittingly made this connection when he actually used the very word “heinous” to describe the bombings in his public remarks the day after), but his connection to amputation is clear.

Tantalus was a mythic king who dismembered his own son to cook in a stew to be served to the gods, and thus also relates to cannibalism (the spate of cannibal-related stories from spring 2012 coincided with a very protracted Sun/Tantalus conjunction extending over months).

Our word “tantalize,” to tempt with something always unattainable and just out of reach, is derived from Tantalus’ punishment: chained in a lake in Hades with overhanging fruit trees. Whenever he attempted to assuage his thirst, the waters of the lake receded, and when he tried to eat the fruit, the boughs swayed up out of his grasp. Tantalus, condemned to eternal hunger and thirst, has become an image of unfulfilled desire and frustration.

We’ll return now to PNAs for an examination of those who lost their lives that day, arguably the ones most impacted by the event. Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old who was a regular spectator at the marathon (her grandmother described it as her favorite day, ever since she was a little girl), and Lu Lingzi, a Chinese graduate student at nearby Boston University, both illustrate a common issue that arises with PNAs, namely, lack of exact matches. Although there are more than 15,000 named asteroids, not every name is represented exactly, and sometimes near misses will need to be used. In examinations of well over a hundred news stories over the past six years, I have found the cosmos to be very obliging in this regard.

There is no asteroid Lu or Lingzi, but asteroid Lugh (#217628), named for an Irish deity, is an exact phonetic match for Lingzi’s surname of Lu (both pronounced “loo”). It appears at 4 Pisces, exactly conjunct Neptune, ruling victims.

Incredibly, Krystle Campbell has a celestial referent at the same degree. There is no Krystle asteroid, even by its more traditional spelling of “Crystal,” but there is a Christa (#1015) and a Christy (#129564), as well as an exact match for her surname Campbell (#2751), and all three feature prominently. Asteroid Christa is also at 4 Pisces, exactly with Neptune, while asteroid Christy is in square from 4 Gemini, and Campbell squares from 3 Sagittarius, all points bound in a very tight T-Square pattern with Neptune.

Christa and Christy show the effectiveness of similar names or nicknames in establishing a person’s asteroid identity, and another category of substitute nomenclature is illustrated with the third victim, eight-year-old Martin Richard. Martin’s story is among the most tragic, as in the twinkling of an eye, his entire family was devastated. Martin was killed, his sister lost her leg, his mother was seriously wounded, and his father raked by shrapnel.

Asteroids were traditionally given feminine names, and these still predominate, but they are interchangeable with their masculine variations. So while there is no asteroid Martin, there is a Martina (#981), and also an exact match for his last name of Richard (#3972). These do not tie strongly to any major planets in the chart, but have a tale to tell of their own. Martina falls at 17 Virgo, in close conjunction with asteroid Karma (#3811) at 16 Virgo, both squared to asteroid Richard at 19 Sagittarius, itself conjoined TNO (Trans-Neptunian Object) Ixion at 20 Sagittarius, named for the first murderer in Greek mythology.

The stressful combination of this young boy’s first and last names with points representing a fated, predestined circumstance and the unjust taking of a life is a poignant reminder that, even when apparently unconnected, we are all part of the fabric of the universe, the warp and woof which creates and informs our reality.

The mechanism by which these uncanny celestial synchronicities occur still eludes me. Do they in fact represent fate, a date with destiny of which we are blissfully unaware in advance, but which is unavoidable? Or do they merely describe the effect of our free will in the choices we make, which put us in the wrong place at the wrong time?

We now have the identities of the suspects, two brothers from the southern region of the former Soviet Union, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, both legal US residents. There are no exact or close matches for these names among named asteroids, but there are two asteroids that have some spelling and phonetic similarities. These are Dzhangar 2756 (for Dzhokhar) and Tsarevsky 24199 (for Tsarnaev). Ordinarily, I would consider these to be too broad a stretch, however, when applied to the Boston Marathon bombing chart, their positions do seem to support their acting as celestial stand-ins for the accused.

Dzhangar, representing the surviving brother and the one most inevitably connected with the story going forward as he faces prosecution, appears at 6 Virgo, in an angular conjunction with the 3 Virgo Ascendant, a symbol of the public perception of the event. Tsarevsky, representing both brothers, falls at 23 Scorpio, also angular and within orb of the 28 Scorpio nadir, the foundational point of the chart. Additionally, Dzhangar opposes Neptune, ruling the fanaticism and extreme religious identification of which they are suspected, and Tsarevsky is inconjunct the Sun/Mars pairing that marks the day as potentially one of violence. Take that for what you will.