Oscar Pistorius: A Martian Tragedy

by Mari Garcia
n the early hours of Valentines Day, 14th February 2013, Oscar Pistorius, Olympic athlete and champion who gained global fame after running at the London 2012 Olympics on his carbon-fibre blades alongside able-bodied athletes, was accused of gunning down his girlfriend in the small hours of the morning, supposedly mistaking her for an intruder. A week later he was bailed to stand trial for premeditated murder.

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Oscar Pistorius. Birth data (source: his family, by email) from Astrology Theme at http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Oscar_Pistorius [accessed 28/2/13]

Oscar Pistorius: A Martian Tragedy

Pistorius is a South African sprint runner who was born with a congenital absence of the fibula and both his legs were amputated when he was 11 months old. He gained fame as an Olympian and most especially for his campaign to be allowed to compete in events for able-bodied athletes. At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, Pistorius became the first amputee to win an able-bodied world track medal and at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Pistorius became the first double leg amputee to participate in the Olympics when he entered the men's 400 metres and 4 400 metres relay races. He has always been an active athlete and was involved in rugby union, water polo and tennis. After a serious rugby knee injury in June 2003, he was introduced to running in January 2004 while undergoing rehabilitation at the University of Pretoria's High Performance Centre with coach Ampie Louw, and "never looked back" 1 This article is a discussion of his natal chart and an attempt to understand and illustrate the nature of Mars, its influence and expression in this individuals life.

Ascendant and Primary Motivation

To begin with, the chart is a diurnal birth, with the Sun in the 10th, the sign of Aquarius on the Ascendant and Mars in the 1st house. Pistoriuss prime motivation is Air, and so he goes for freedom expression & movement and Air is a combination of the hot and wet qualities expressing itself as quick motion looking to make connections and bring things together. Aquarius does this through establishing and maintaining connections by preserving independence, knowledge and impressing their authority on the world. The ruler, Saturn is in Sagittarius in the 11th and so he realises the drive to move quickly and brings things together through group activities and by the realisation of his ideals. The 11th house also contains Uranus suggesting that these activities and associations may be disruptive, anarchic and independent. Pistorius has a reputation for pushing the envelope both in the technology which allowed him to compete successfully with the use of prosthetics as well as in challenging the status quo notions of disability and ability.

Mars
Mars is in the 1st house showcasing its characteristics of courage, action, rashness, tumult, boisterousness, rashness, physical prowess and directness for the entire world to see. Mars brings valour and a sense of brutal strength not necessarily associated with prudence or strategy. It makes for those who would go headlong into confrontation, who seek out and thrive on competition and physical challenge.

Davis, Gareth My Sport: Oscar Pistorius in an interview in The Telegraph, 9 May 2007. Sourced at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/mysport/2312850/My-Sport-Oscar-Pistorius.html [accessed 24/2/2013]

Oscar Pistorius: A Martian Tragedy

The first house describes how we interact with the world and Pistorius has always courted controversy: first in his challenges to the athletic conventions and then in his lifestyle which featured guns and weapons, wild animals and physical assault. In an interview with Britain's Daily Mail in 2012, Pistorius described sleeping with a pistol, machine gun, cricket bat and baseball bat for fear of burglars at his upmarket home in a secure Pretoria estate. An interesting point is that Pistoriuss nickname is The Blade Runner, another very prominent manifestation of the first house Mars as is his chosen sport, athletics. But beyond his sporting prowess, Pistorius has been a national hero, an inspirational role model, and, above all, a global celebrity championing the right of the athlete to compete more so than the rights of the disabled. In 2009 Pistorius spent a night in jail after allegedly assaulting a young woman at a party. In the same year he crashed his boat in a river south of Johannesburg, breaking two ribs, an eye socket and his jaw. Empty alcohol containers littered the boat but no blood tests were conducted. He also once owned two white tigers but sold them to a zoo in Canada when they became too big.2 Mars is a prominent planet in Pistorius's chart and his challenging nature is reflected in the following quote which Pistorius referred to as his sporting motto: "You're not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have." 3 As well as making a very tight square to the Scorpio Sun, Mars is also its dispositor and at 27 Aquarius, Mars is also in its own terms. It is also rules the sign of the MC (Scorpio) and is also the term ruler of the degree of the MC. Mars also rules the sign of North Node (Aries) as well as ruling the 3rd house, a potent planet plugged into the chart. Mars is the agent for the realisation of his goals and aspirations (ruler of the MC and 10th house) as well as the articulation of his personal truths (ruler of the 3rd). Mars in the chart is also the significator of siblings. Interestingly, at the time of writing this article, Pistoriuss older brother, Carl has also been charged for culpable homicide as a result of a car accident several years ago.

The Troublemaker
Mars is also the out of sect malefic. The out of sect malefic in a chart can be either Mars or Saturn. Mars likes being in a nocturnal chart and Saturn likes being in diurnal chart. As this is a diurnal chart, Mars is the troublemaker as it is in a chart of the opposite sect. The astrological tradition defines a malefic planet not as inherently evil, but rather one with which most humans have difficulty with as they do not know how to respond to them properly or how to handle them in the context of their lives. Therefore a malefic is a planet that needs to be handled carefully because otherwise they cause mayhem. Both Mars and Saturn, difficult as they may be, are both planetary energies that are useful and necessary. But, as they say, buyer beware. If you buy into them, you have to be prepared to handle the consequences of control (Saturn) and aggression (Mars).

Who is Oscar Pistorius? published online at NDTV Sports, 21 February 2013 sourced at http://sports.ndtv.com/othersports/athletics/item/203934-who-is-oscar-pistorius [accessed 28/2/13] 3 Ibid.

Oscar Pistorius: A Martian Tragedy

So what can we expect of malefics and Mars in particular? As we have seen, Mars has played a very prominent role in Pistorius's athletic career, providing him with the energy, volition and courage to overcome significant physical obstacles to realise his sporting goals. It has, however not been as kind in the other areas of life, namely his relationships with others. The problem with Mars is that it can be very effective in the arena of combat and competition but it can cause difficulties when it acts like the proverbial action hero: full of bravado and daring, irresponsible and irreverent, likeable and sexual, temperamental and quarrelsome. Pistorius has developed a reputation for intimidation and bullying of others including rivals and partners. He also has a reputation for being a playboy. According to former partner Samantha Taylor commenting on his new partner, Oscar has such a way with women....she is probably not the only one on his arm. 4

Mars Aspects
Mars in Pistorius's natal chart makes a very hard aspect to the Sun underscoring his love of competition and also his personal courage. The Sun rules the 7th house of relationships and we also find a Leo Moon in residence there. Here we have a very telling statement about his relationships: they are the very source of both his love of competition and his relationship difficulties as the ruler of the 7th, the Sun squares the prominent Mars. His lovers are also his competitors or the source for competition in his life. In his book, Pistorius admits he has a fiery side which manifests itself in arguments and fights.5 Apart from the aspect to the Sun, Mars receives no other aspect and this is also the case with the Sun. Here we have two planets, a duet, which are tied to each other by geometrical relationship with no other influence and we can say that the aspect they make to each other defines each of their individual expressions. With the Sun ruling the 7th and sitting Sun in the 10th house, we have a statement that relationships and partners are part of Pistoriuss goals, achievements or conquests. His relationships and his competitors or rivals are the trophies that gain him the Martian reputation of hero. What is difficult is that the primal nature of Mars, when it has no suitable arena for competition, or viable challenges, it still acts out its inherent competitive and combative nature. We see with Pistorius that the alternative object for competition is his relationships with the world in general as well as his relationships. The angular Mars in the 1st house needs expression and at its base expression is competition and agrees ion which gets played out in his

4 Phillip de Wet, Reports of aggression haunt Oscar Pistorius' social relationships at Mail & Guardian, 15 February 2013 sourced at http://mg.co.za/article/2013-02-15-00-reports-of-aggression-haunt-oscar-pistorius-social-relationships [accessed 24/2/2013]. 5 As quoted by Justin Penrose in his article Oscar Pistorius nearly died in car crash as he sped 400 miles to settle row with ex, at Mirror News, 2 March 2013 sourced at http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/oscar-pistorius-nearly-diedcar-1740073 [accessed 4/3/2013]

Oscar Pistorius: A Martian Tragedy

Mars Periods
Given the prominence of Mars in this chart the next step would be to examine how Mars has coloured certain periods of his life. Shortly after his birth, his parents took the very painful decision to have both his legs amputated below the knee as a result of a congenital birth defect. This happened as the natal Sun at 29 Scorpio 44 received an exact square from the natal Mars (birth position at 27 Aquarius 28) by primary direction on the 6th Sep 1987, and his legs were amputated one month before his first birthday in October 1987.6 As a diurnal birth, Pistorius will not experience an entire Mars dominated firdaria period until his early sixties so we can examine several periods in his short life which have Mars as the participating planet in the Firdaria: Sun/Mars 19/6/95 21/11/96 at 11 years of age. There was no data available on this period of his life except general references to his participation in a variety of sports including rugby union and water polo. Venus/Mars 9/8/02 1/10/03 at 15 years of age his Mother dies but the other significant event was he injured his knee playing rugby and he was introduced to athletics specifically running, as a form of rehabilitation. This set him on a different career path which culminated in his participation in the able-bodied events of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Mercury/Mars 27/4/12 6/4/14 at 26 years of age during this period he weathers accusation of is accused of murdering his girlfriend.

While these indicators are essentially flags to these periods of his life and have to be considered jointly with other techniques, I do find it fascinating that it is the Mars sub-periods that seem to highlight trigger points which share characteristics of action and challenge as a result of, or which result in injury to himself. Mars is the planet which he relies on to drive his life and yet it is the one which also brings him the greatest difficulties and challenges. As the lord of the 10th house, every goal and ambition, even his destiny is Mars dominated. As Mars is in the angular 1st, Pistorius sees himself as the warrior who must constantly challenge and overcome obstacles, in all shapes and forms and including people, who stand in his way. He is just as well- known for his challenges to the norms of athletic competition i.e. competing in able-bodied events and his use of the J-shaped carbon-fibre prosthetic, as well as his athletic prowess.

McHugh,Josh, Blade Runner at Wired issue 15.03 March 2007 sourced at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.03/blade.html [accessed 3/3/13]

Oscar Pistorius: A Martian Tragedy

The 2013 Solar Return and the Profected House

Pistorius celebrated his 26th birthday in November, 2012 and so that brings us to his 3rd sign/house7 which is Aries. The lord of the sign is Mars and so Mars is the dominant planet, the lord of the year in charge of all the comings and goings. We can then say that the year in question, from his birthday in November 2012 to his next birthday in November, 2013 will bring into his life 3rd house matters of siblings and his own personal truths. With Mars as the lord of the year, we have already described the dominant role it plays in his life. By being brought to prominence at this time as the lord of the year, the matters that Mars rules in his natal chart will be on the agenda. Apart from 3rd house matters, Mars also rules his natal 10th house of goals, ambitions, status, public image and career. Natal ASC
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If we look at his current Solar Return, which came into force on his birthday, the first thing is to overlay his natal Ascendant and Descendant onto the Solar Return to see where his energies (Ascendant) and his goals (MC) will be directed to during this year. The natal Ascendant falls in the 10th house of the Solar Return suggesting that his energies will be focused on his career and public life while his goals for the year are centred on relationships or conflicts with the natal MC sitting in the
7 Profections are a type of planetary period wherein the Ascendant or other natal planets or points are profected or moved forward by one sign for every year. Every year divisible by 12 comes back to the original point. In this case, the Ascendant is profected so on the 12th, 24th, 36th year etc it comes back to the natal sign. Therefore on his 26th year we count 24 from the Ascendant, 25 2nd house, 26 3rd house.

Oscar Pistorius: A Martian Tragedy

Solar Return 7th house. Additionally, we can also say that his goals and ambitions may meet with obstacles in the form of authority or repression as the natal MC conjuncts Solar Return Saturn in the 7th. This year relationships or conflicts or their outcomes will present a hindrance or obstacle to his goals and ambitions. Mars as the lord of the year will tell us how effective he will be in dealing with the matters that arise and looking at the natal Mars in the 1st we already know that this is a person who is both driven and drives his own agenda. Mars in the Solar Return sits conjunct Pluto in the 9th and in a tight square to Uranus in the 12th. Mars rules the 7th and 12th houses in the Solar Return suggesting that it will bring unexpected eruptions, instability and tension which will affect both his public life and relationships. Another indicator is the emphasis made by the three planets in the 7th house highlighting the nature of the year which is focused on relationships and conflicts. The lunar phase of the Soar Return is a first quarter suggesting that these times are redolent of action and challenge coupled with vulnerability through the lack of experience or perspective.

What Now?
Having looked at the influence and impact of Mars on Pistoriuss life we now can make some informed forecast as to the possible evolution of the events of February. We know that he has been granted bail and is free to move around. As of the 28th March, his appeal to have his bail conditions altered was successful with the a High Court judge ruling that the tight bail conditions which placed Pistorius under virtual house arrest, were unfair and unreasonable8 and he has been given leave to travel abroad and compete in international track meetings. At the time of the alleged murder, Mars, lord of the year was at 9 Pisces making a tight square to natal Saturn and trining the natal Venus-Pluto conjunction. While we cannot say that this caused the events of that fateful night, we can see how this reflects the violence and brutality of the events and their impact on Pistorius's reputation and public life. Two weeks after the lord of the year, Mars moved into Aries, the sign of its rulership, we see the strength of the Mars come to the fore as Pistorius wins the appeal, challenging the harshness of bail conditions. I refer back to the comment earlier that the natal MC had Saturn on it both in the Solar Return and also by transit. The IAAF9 , the governing body of world athletics has also ruled that Pistorius would be "free to run" in Moscow at the World Athletics Championships on the basis of the 'innocent until proven guilty' principle.10 So far, the lord of the year in rulership is delivering its bounty in the form of winning and freedom. On the 7th April it conjuncts his natal North Node as well as making a celestial conjunction with Venus and we may possibly see a public comment about the possibility of resuming competition. Two of the major athletics events are said to be considering their position as to whether they issue an invitation for him to compete. According to news reports,
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Alex Spink, Back to the track? Oscar Pistorius cleared to race despite murder charge. The Mirror, 28th March 2013 sourced at http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/athletics/back-track-oscar-pistorius-cleared-1790522 [accessed 3/4/13] 9 International Association of Athletics Federation 10 Ibid.

Oscar Pistorius: A Martian Tragedy

Pistorius has no immediate plans to return to competition but his lawyer said he would need to return to track in the future to earn money. He has no desire to compete now but it might change and it will change, he added.11 By the 20th April Mars enters the sign of its detriment, Taurus and we could say that if no invitations have been issued by then, there is little likelihood of any. At this point, Mars will be opposing his stellium in Scorpio making sequential oppositions to his Venus, Pluto, Mercury and Sun as well as conjuncting his IC. Not necessarily a comfortable time, there may be some hidden matters that come to light. Mars moves out of Taurus into Gemini on the 31st May and will go on to oppose natal Saturn, square natal Jupiter and oppose natal Uranus. Unexpected difficulties emerge to do with the case and he may face added charges. As Mars moves into Cancer, the sign of its fall, and goes on to oppose natal Neptune and square the Nodal axis the lack of corroboration or conflicting evidence with regards to the events of the night in question may make the case against him much darker. By the end of August Mars moves into Leo and goes on to conjunct his natal Moon and then his Descendant. We could expect that at this time either the date of the trial is set or the trial itself starts in early September and possibly lasting until mid-October as Mars comes to oppose its natal position with possibly a verdict being handed down. What is interesting is that Mars, the lord of the year remains direct at all times during this period suggesting that there is a great likelihood that delays or stoppages are minimized and that when the matter goes to trial it is dealt with a straightforward way. What could the outcome be? I would suggest that if the trial is held after the end of August there is a greater likelihood that he will not be found guilty of murder but may have to bear the brunt of lesser charges. However, should the trial be held earlier the possibility of deception and confusion increases as Mars, in the sign of its fall, opposes natal Neptune and squares the Nodal axis. Evidence may be either false, deceptive or contrived or his attempts at any form of deception fail. Regardless, as a consequence of deception or falsity he may have to pay a very high price: either a deception is revealed and he is convicted as a result, or false evidence may be used against him. As of now, we wait to hear when the trial date is to be set however as evidence is gathered for both the prosecution and the defence, it will be interesting to see what stories emerge or false witnesses or conflicting evidence. On a final note, I said earlier that Pistorius is in a 3rd house profected year and his brother, Carl (3rd house is ones siblings) is also facing his own court appearance as he answers charges for culpable homicide as the result of a car accident which occurred five years ago in which a motor bike rider was killed. Recent reports have said that the witness accounts were faulty and incorrect.12

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Ibid. Shain Germaner Carl Pistorius' trial continues Eyewitness News 4 April 2013 sourced at http://ewn.co.za/2013/04/03/Pistorius-trial-continues [accessed 5/4/13]

Oscar Pistorius: A Martian Tragedy

Conclusion In summary, it is interesting to see how a planets prominence, strength and nature will always be directed to the expression of the planet. How constructive or otherwise it is for the person is often secondary. Even in the case of Oscar Pistorius, his Mars has given him strength of will and volition to overcome some difficult physical disabilities. He has achieved much in his short life and yet has fallen prey to the very same pitfalls that are simply the flip side of the Martian nature: the arrogance, intimidation and action hero behaviour. We have to remember that planets are potent and have only one goal: that is to realise their nature and often this comes with consequences for the person. Mari Garcia 5th April 2013
Copyright Mari Garcia 2013. Mari Garcia is a consulting astrologer who has been involved with astrology since 1990. She has lectured widely both in Australia and the USA and has published articles in Australia and overseas and writes for several local and national publications. She runs a consulting practice in Adelaide and is co-principal of ASTRO MUNDI, which offers a four year course in astrology, a Traditional Astrology course as well as special interest workshops and Master Classes. Mari can be contacted on 08 8563 9182 or check out the website at www.astromundi.com. Keep abreast of developments at Astro Mundi on Facebook.