The Death Penalty has long been abolished in civilised countries. Not one country in Europe uses it. It’s still on the statute book in Russia but hasn’t been used for 10 years. But Donald Trump’s America still glories in it, executing 22 of its citizens by lethal injection in 2019.
Even in the US this barbaric act is a postcode lottery. The state of Michigan abolished it in 1846 but the federal government killed 3 of its own men in a 3 day period in July this year.
Granted that 3 day period had the Sun in Cancer opposite to Pluto but even so…
There have been many instances of miscarriage of justice as well.
Obviously this can happen in any country but at least the victim would not lose their life for it.
One case that should never have reached the chair was that of Manny Babbitt.
These cases are always emotive and so I will simply copy Babbitt’s Wikipedia entry.
Manuel Babbitt ” was a US marine veteran of the Vietnam war who was convicted of the murder of a 78-year-old woman, Leah Schendel, during a burglary in Sacramento, California in 1980. He was executed by the state of California by lethal injection at San Quentin state prison, one day after his 50th birthday. The murder was committed during a string of robberies and burglaries and the day after the murder Babbitt committed at least one sexual assault.
Babbitt had been wounded at the bloody 1968 Battle of Sne Kanh in Quang Tri province, South Vietnam. As part of his defence, he claimed he suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ( PTSD ) which he claimed caused him to commit his crimes and to later lose all memories of the crimes.
One year before his execution, while on death row , Babbitt was awarded a Purple Heart medal for the wounds he had received at the Battle of Khe Sanh.
Babbitt refused his last meal and asked that the $50 allotted be given to homeless Vietnam veterans. His last words were: “I forgive all of you.” He was buried in his native Wareham, Massachusetts on May 10, 1999, with full military honours.
The movie Last Day Of Freedom, nominated for an Oscar in 2016, depicts his brother’s narrative of the events that led to Babbitt’s execution.”
The film is “short documentary about racism , the US Criminal Justice System, and mental health issues.”
What would astrology say about this ?
Astrology can’t really speak about those issues in general, but we can look at the chart of any individual to see how these themes may have impacted on him.
Like so many of the murderers in this series, the Sun and Moon signs are the relatively inoffensive Taurus and Cancer.
But it isn’t about that. Everything is in the aspect patterns.
Manny Babbitt had a T Square involving Mercury in Gemini in the 6th house opposing his Ascendant focusing on an apex Saturn in the 9th house.
Mental health issues are complex and cannot be reduced to a single placements, but experience has shown me that particular patterns in charts can point towards the individual’s experience.
And Mercury in the 6th house square to Saturn is pointing towards something of that nature here.
But one placing can mean a number of different things all comfortably contained within its own symbolic range.
As Saturn is in the 9th it can also refer to Babbitt’s wounding ( Mercury in the 6th ) in a foreign ( 9th house ) war.
The 9th house also rules the judicial system, so Saturn’s square to a 6th house Mercury from the 9th would point to the authorities giving no consideration to Babbitt’s mental health issues or PTSD when he was being tried and eventually executed for murder.
The Sun in close square to Pluto does not mean that Babbitt would inevitably be a murderer. If it did, the world would be a much more scary place than it is.
But it does point to an event that would be powerful and pivotal in his life that could well be violent.
And if we are looking at the chart of a murderer here, it would be easy to see the victim.
The Moon in Cancer in the 8th house would point to an elderly woman.
The murder occurred in 1980, the only time in his life that Pluto made an aspect to this natal Moon, a square.
Manny Babbitt was executed in 1999 when Uranus was square to and Saturn conjunct his Sun.
The film Last Day Of Freedom was released in 2015, as Pluto was trine Babbitt’s Sun.
As the only democratic country in the world that still executes people its not surprising that the United States Sun is in the 8th house of death.
It also has Mercury in that house opposite Pluto
On Inauguration Day, January 20th 2021, Pluto will Return to its natal position opposing that Mercury.
Let’s hope this will be the last day of the US death penalty.
Posted on 24th October 2020