This Week's Saturday Night Mystery | the death of Lori K. - the astrology of a conspiracy theory

Early this week (which feels like a lifetime ago already with everything that has happened since), Trump tweeted something along the lines of "some people think Joe Scarborough got away with murder" referring to the death of a young woman who worked in one of his district offices in Florida when he was serving in the U.S. House of Representatives back in the summer of 2001. He stirred things up, including the grief of her loved ones, as he is apt to carelessly do.
We are entering a powerful Eclipse season that brings us back to that summer and fall for the first time (activated by Mercury this week) and I thought it might be interesting to take a look, so here we go.

On July 20, 2001, a couple entered the district offices of U.S. Rep. Joseph Scarborough (now host of Morning Joe an American TV talk-show on MSNBC) in Fort Walton Beach, Florida for an 8:00AM scheduled appointment with someone at that location. Upon arrival, they discovered the body of 28 year old staff worker Lori Klausutis on the floor behind a desk. Her only co-worker was away on vacation and newspaper reports would later indicate Lori had been dead for "some" time

(her obituary notice listed her date of death as the day before her body was found).

Lori was young and vivacious, married for four years, she had graduated cum laude (with distinction) from the University of Georgia School of Journalism and was working on completing her MBA from the University of West Florida. She was a singer in her church choir and former president and current treasurer of her local Young Republican's group. She had worked at a district office for Rep. Scarborough for two years (he would later state he had met her about three times during those years).

Multiple people who had seen Lori at work the day before, including a delivery man, said she had spoken of not feeling herself/feeling unwell and anxious. We don't know exactly when Lori died (I would assume sometime before she would have been expected to leave), but we can see quite a bit from this forensic event chart drawn from the moment her body was discovered.

Foul play, illness, accident?

Let's unpack the chart.

When doing a chart like this, there are a couple things you can look at quickly to determine if the chart is viable. We typically want a degree on the first house cusp/rising sign that is between 5-25 degrees - otherwise the chart might be too early or too late to use (this isn't always the case, but it's always my first stop) - here we have a 13 degree ascendant which looks safe to judge.

(I usually take a quick look to see if the chart supports the facts and can see at a glance the Leo rising with the Sun/Moon in the 12th house of endings and, Saturn, which often signifies the location of 'the person's body/bones' at the time, is in the 10th house of her workplace/career, so with a quick glance we know the chart is usable/accurate and we can keep going)

There are two significators for Lori (the subject) in this type of forensic astrology chart - the ruler of the first house and the ruler of the Moon.

Leo was rising at the time this event "came to light" making the ruler of the first house the Sun. The first house represents Lori. Lori actually was a Leo Sun sign and we know she was spoken of as cheerful/generous/athletic and she was a singer in her church choir (and also performed on stage in college) - all very Leo-like. Leo also represents - the Sun, the heart and heart-centered activity, passion, accomplishment.

The sign on the cusp won't always (or even usually) be the person's actual Sun sign, of course, but it should always represent them at the time the chart is drawn. Here, Leo also speaks of Lori's "time of life". Leo rules young adulthood and the kind of pride developing as we finish up school and step out into the larger limelight of the world.

The Sun, ruler of the 1st house is in that final 12th house. We also see we have the Moon (the other significator for Lori) in that house, too. The Moon is waning/balsamic moving toward the Sun (so the time just before a New Moon when the skies are dark).

Both significators in that final 12th house with that dark Moon speaks very highly of endings/death.

The 12th house can indicate dying alone (also the general loneliness of dying), maybe in a small space, maybe from an old or hidden illness. It could be a maternal inheritance since this is all happening in Cancer. Although, with the Sun here, too, a paternally inherited illness is also possible (maybe connected to the heart/Sun), so we'll just say an inherited illness/inherited ending - meaning with a past life or ancestral connection.

Now, the sign on the descendant (cusp of the 7th house) rules the perpetrator (if there is one); this would be who or what caused whatever happened to Lori.

The 7th house ruler is Aquarius and we have the modern ruler of Aquarius, chaotic Uranus indicating something catalytic, sudden and unexpected in that same 7th house. He is strong in his home sign and inconjunct the Moon - rock and a hard place/no way out. The other ruler of Aquarius, his ancient ruler, is Saturn - seen here in Gemini in that 10th house of career/public life (Gemini also rules offices, neighborhoods, high places, sometimes it shows up prominently when we are looking at two things).

Neptune (natural ruler of that 12th house of endings) is conjunct the descendent from the 6th house of work/office/health. Neptune in Aquarius might indicate an unconscious state that creates an unexpected occurrence - like if someone was to fall asleep at the wheel and have a car accident. Neptune in the 6th house could also be a hidden illness.

So, was Lori's enemy an unexpected accident (Uranus) at work (Saturn)? Or an inherited illness?

Let's keep digging.

Saturn is conjunct Venus in Gemini answering to Mercury (Mercury has just moved into Cancer again as I type this, and I should note when Trump was tweeting about Lori, Venus, the planet that rules young women, was exactly where Venus was when she died).

Nearest the top of the chart - this shows the public event/what this chart 'shows us' - the couple (Gemini) finding a young woman (Venus) dead at work (Saturn) in an office (Gemini). And even now as this event is re-activated (and Venus and Saturn are also both retrograde right now) - we have the President/leader (Saturn) talking/tweeting (Gemini) about a young woman (Venus).

Mercury is in Cancer which is ruled by the Moon which is also in Cancer. The Moon (Lori) being the final dispositor of that ruler of the 7th house (the enemy) - puts Lori in charge of this situation. I don't mean Lori is responsible for her own death, but it could indicate no one else is.

Other than maybe fate (North Node conjunct Mercury ruler of that 'hidden enemy').

The 4th house ruler is Scorpio - we use all the chart angles to analyze this type of chart, the other houses are ONLY important if an angular ruler, or the dispositor of an angular ruler, is placed in them. The rulers of Scorpio - Mars/ancient and Pluto/modern are conjunct in Sag in the 5th house (Leo's natural house). Pluto/Mars would indicate a fast death - maybe death (Pluto) from a head injury (Mars). They oppose Saturn. So, we have all the malefic planets in a tight little bundle. We see another karmic indicator with Chiron conjunct the 4th house rulers. The 10th house ruler is Taurus - ruled by Venus in the 11th house (Uranus's natural house of chaos/accidents) and answering to Mercury and finally again to the Moon (Lori).

So what happened to Lori?

I love a good conspiracy as much as the next girl, but could Joe Scarborough have killed Lori Klausutis - well, let's just say the chance is just as good that Professor Plum did it in the ballroom with a monkey wrench.

The official explanation, given some weeks after her sudden death (by a rather disreputable coroner who was later discredited) - a cardiac arrhythmia causing her to fall and hit her head on a desk.

Even with hindsight being 20/20 (maybe 20/30 in my case) we can see this does align pretty well with the chart even taking into account the coroner's tainted reputation many years later when he lost his license for stealing body parts, yes, I said for stealing body parts! No wonder this case just refuses to be put to bed.

There are other scenarios that might fit the chart, but his findings and this chart do align themselves pretty much perfectly. We could go deeper and backtrack the skies and figure out when it exactly happened if we wanted to, but it wouldn't change the analysis.

Lori was only 28 years old when she died. She left a grief stricken husband, sister, parents and friends behind. It seems that so many, very creative people pass away between 27-29 years old, around the time of their first Saturn return (Saturn returning to the position he occupied at our birth for the first time - also around the age of 56 -58 during the second Saturn return).

Important life cycles are shifting.

Maybe it's because they have already done what they came here to do and are ready to move on, much to the sadness of their loved ones and not known to their personality here on Earth,

and their soul just finds a way to take their leave ....



xo all

artwork by the talented Elizabeth Handelsby

Today's Astrology Forecast | Friday, May 29, 2020 - what's making it hard to breathe, what's burning, seeing the ways we are tied to the past by the choices we have made, time to adjust, time to choose

The Moon leaves fiery Leo (with Minneapolis ablaze) and moves into the sign of - "let's clean up the mess/fix this thing" Virgo at 7:40AM EDT.

Yesterday, we had a LONG void Moon as Mercury moved through the North Node and then crossed the Aries point (0 degrees of a cardinal sign) on her/his way into Cancer.

So, he goes from his home sign where he is strong and as stable as Mercury gets (other than his time in Virgo each year) and into a water sign - his least favorite element. A message/information/decision about our future. And our collective attention on ONE THING.

And in Cancer, we get to feel what everyone is saying.

We saw the video of a police officer kneeling on a black man's neck as he begged for breath - the officers faces robotic and unfeeling as the crowds screamed for them to help. In a time when so many people are struggling to breathe (from a disease/a mask/suffocating situations) - kneeling for almost 10 minutes until the man's words and breathing ceased ...

Grief turning to anger. Anger to fire. A Leo Moon going void off a square to radical and disruptive Uranus and not answering to anyone. A zeitgeist moment. Torn between the old world - where remember this stuff still happened, but we just didn't have to look at it - and a new world it looks like our children or grandchildren might be building - from our ashes - if we don't get our arms, and hearts, around this.

Everyone feeling that insecurity/inability to get control of anything (the dying man, the crowds, the police) .... again the need to bring everyone to the table or that table is getting flipped!

Control doesn't even exist anymore - WE ARE TIED TO THE PAST BY THE CHOICES WE HAVE MADE, but there is nothing there. Time ran out. Time already ran out. That's why we are feeling like we are not all here. Because we aren't. 

Keep in mind that North Node in Gemini. Talk. Listen. Learn. Keep things small and local. There are moves you can make/decisions/choices that can make you feel better. It will be the light touch that works not some heavy handed broad thing. It's not about what we believe (that Sag south node) it's about what we see - what do you see??  

What situation are you trying to control that is out of your hands? What is suffocating you? Where is the fire in your own life burning? Where is the mess?  Where is our anger/our actions only hurting ourselves?

Let's look at today's aspects.

The Moon is in Virgo now so we are nurtured through our daily activities, crossing t's and dotting i's, fixing what's broken. Be advised a lunar Virgo can get very nitpicky/notice the problems. This can be helpful or just make everyone batsh*t crazy.

Mercury is in Cancer now. We will be feeling what people are saying. Our own words will be impacting other people emotionally, too.

The Moon (our feelings) and Mercury (our head) are both in signs where they don't want to be, but helped by their mutual reception to each other - the best of both signs can be activated here. Mercury gets the use of his analytical/practical Virgo and the Moon the use of her feeling Cancer.

With Mercury in Cancer we will need to step back now and then and ask ourselves - "am I feeling the actual situation or am I feeling my thinking about the situation?".

This day is challenging (maybe mostly tonight, so it could just run into tomorrow) and tomorrow could be challenging, too.

We have the First Quarter Square of this lunar cycle.

The Moon in Virgo squaring the Sun in Gemini.

Gemini wants choices and Virgo wants to narrow our focus onto just one, practical thing. Making a CHOICE allows the rest of the lunar month to evolve - our muses are standing by, but this is a free will universe (and yes, we made some of the choices before we got here this time around, so it's not so cut and dried) - we have to make the first move. At the same time, the Moon is opposing and the Sun is squaring Mars and Ceres in Pisces. We will really be feeling the stuff that is out of our control. And the more we push the further we get from what we want!

The other aspects today can help guide our decisions/our next moves.

We have the Sun sextiling Chiron - here is a light on that very old, very deep wounding and a need to address it.

OK, so we know the Moon in Virgo wants to help/fix things and he is being aided by his mutual reception to Mercury/Cancer, so stronger than our usual Virgo Moon.

So, we can see what is wrong and we can see something we can do about it.

It won't be totally fixable, but that doesn't mean we get to just look the other way - remember this Chiron wounding isn't about the healing, but about the "living with the wounding". Choose. Decide. Take some healing action. Virgo rules our health, our work, our daily habits. What needs to change? Be flexible. Gemini rules our communication, our neighborhood, our siblings, our thinking. What needs healing? What needs practical action? Talk it out. This is a square, so it's not going to be comfortable. We haven't been comfortable in months anyway. The only way through it is through it. What houses do Gemini and Virgo rule in your own chart?

Another aspect we have today is a testy inconjunct between Mercury and a retrograde Saturn.

With Mercury in Cancer words come from the gut. Words are taken personally. They can be soothing or they can be painful. And here is Saturn (authority/responsibility) retrograding through detached Aquarius saying the rules are the rules, here are your responsibilities, "you are way too sensitive, you snowflake, grow up!". This is a rock and a hard place. There aren't really any answers here. Adjustments are needed.

With a strong aspect to Chiron and a Mercury/Saturn inconjunct we can all be easily triggered. 

Keep that gun in your holster folks.

When Mercury crossed that 0 degrees Cancer yesterday he set up a marker for the June 21-22 eclipse that will set up the rest of 2020, so we can see what that will be about!

Check the news/your local newspaper. Mercury is a trickster - the most important stories will not always be on the front page. Check your inbox/mailbox.

We won't be able to say we didn't get a heads up. We got our heads up.

Our heart and heads can align today. What do we do with this?


xo all

photo by the amazing alltelleringet

Hubs and I can check our mailbox pretty easily right now, since it's lying in our driveway, taken out (along with some of our fence) by a newbie tractor trailer driver trying to back up last night because he hadn't noticed the road was closed. They are re-paving Main Street at midnight and it was crazy loud, but hubs, somehow with a kind of super-hearing available to him only in times of a "something is happening to my stuff" emergency, since I didn't hear a thing and he recently heard me sneaking his mother's old cuckoo clock out of the dining room and up into the attic - jumped out of bed and ran outside in his boxers. He kept a cool head, collected $100 from the guy and talked the police out of giving him a ticket which he said would cost him his job. Twenty/ten/five years ago (months ago?) he might have been angry. Anyone can change. Plus time is stretchy now.

Funny how the other day when I accidentally locked myself out and was yelling and banging ... he somehow didn't hear a thing ;)

Today's Astrology Forecast | Wednesday, May 27, 2020 - group responsibilities, important information, an opportunity to shine/celebrate, fun with kids, a new focus vs old work, a change of plans or lack of resources/self-esteem

At 2:33AM EDT, last night, the Moon moved into fiery Leo - now we are nurtured through and our attention can turn to our collective Leo themes (also your Leo natal house theme as the Moon makes a quick trip through this house) - creative projects, romance, children, fun, our heart, heart-centered pursuits, a need to step into the spotlight. The Moon is answering to the Sun now and we are looking for a way to SHINE.

Our lunar days in Leo are not what they were with Saturn in Cappy, because now with Big Daddy in Aquarius (Leo's polarity sign), before we even wake-up (5:42AM EDT),  the Moon runs into an opposition with this energy - authority/limits/the rules. Now Saturn is retrograde, so this probably isn't a new situation, but already there is rain on our parade. In Leo, we want to be our regal, personal best and here is some kind of group-think/group or goals that bring us into connection with other people/tech thing/future thing - something is HOLDING US UP. Requiring something of us that dulls our shine/slows our roll. You get the idea.

(we woke in the United States to a headline about Trump - Leo rising/the king, and his "war" on masks - a "group responsibility" situation - which is really just the media stirring a pot that is already boiling over, but you can see the energetic behind this).

Now, keep in mind, lunar aspects are fleeting. The press will be on to something else and so will we.

Also keep in mind with this "mask controversy" the need with our North Node in Gemini to bring all ideas/ways of thinking/voices to the table now. You may think a mask is needed. Someone else, take a Fox news viewer, for example, who isn't afraid of this virus, doesn't (because much of our fear is absorbed through language now, so a Fox viewer doesn't fear the virus in the same way a CNN viewer doesn't fear an immigrant). We know through the astrology we don't need to impose our beliefs on each other now - those beliefs are South Node/been there done that. This is about everyone having a voice - think about the mask and the symbolism of OUR VOICES. We need people to be able to act without fear, even when we don't agree with them. Or maybe I should say we need people who fear different things, since this "fear" crisis is the real epidemic! Chiron is in Aries - the sign of ourselves/our independence - we aren't really depending on someone else to take care of us/keep us safe, even if it looks like we are through those different distorted lens we are all looking through.

The BIG news today is probably this Month's Waxing Sextile - Leo/Gemini - and a retrograde Jupiter inconjunct Vesta.

At 3:02PM EDT the waxing Moon (in Leo) sextiles the Gemini Sun at 6 degrees. Whatever this is for us, it should FEEL GOOD. Here is an opportunity to shine/celebrate something we have created. Have fun with a child. We could hear/announce IMPORTANT INFORMATION. It's time to talk/write about what you love.

At the same time a retrograde Jupiter has backed into an inconjunct with Vesta - that sacred focus/thing that keeps us up at night - we talked about yesterday. This is a  rock and a hard place. An incompatibility between that "focus" and the re-do/second look we are going through with our career/goals/beliefs. We kind of have to work both sides of this and it won't be totally comfortable.

At 5:33PM EDT the Leo Moon moves into an awkward square with Uranus (in Taurus). Now something with our money/values/resources/self-esteem or maybe something that just seems to come out of nowhere creates tension/frustration with that crown we are wearing/fun we want to have. Maybe it becomes evident we don't have enough money/resources right now. Or enough self-esteem! Maybe we were planning this fun thing and something comes up and our plans need to change. These are fixed signs, so no one wants to adjust, but adjust we must.

Looking ahead to tomorrow - the Moon will go void at 9:30AM and be void until the next day. So, whatever comes up TOMORROW keep in mind the Leo Moon's need for drama and the void's inevitability that "nothing will come of it".

Plan for PLAY.

xo all

photo by the talented Lady-Tori

Today's astrology forecast | Tuesday, may 26th, 2020 - talk about it, focusing on what really matters, opposing conventional wisdom, cleaning up the mess, emotional challenges

I think we are going to have to go with dailies this week.

This is our last week before we are launched into a long and POWERFUL Eclipse season that changes everything yet again. 

Today, the Moon continues her journey through her home-girl sign of Cancer - home, family, real estate, renovations, home business, family business, mothers, mothering. Tonight is more emotional/challenging as she is opposed by a retrograde Pluto at 5:03PM EDT (authority, power themes, maybe home vs career, something that might feel like a life and death urgency, nostalgia) and then goes void at 9:06PM EDT off an opposition to a retrograde Jupiter.

This is our first lunar journey through Cancer (every month for a couple days) without the North Node here in 18 months, so we could be feeling the need to adjust to that - losing that "guiding star" energy in this area of our life. Something here could feel to be losing its urgency. Whether this feels like a relief (because the North Node is always a challenge) or a loss depends on how we are responding/reacting to this.

There is big news for our relationships now as Juno, our marriage/commitment asteroid, trines the Sun - easy, open communications within partnerships! - and stations direct at 5 degrees Libra.

She has been retrograde since February 8th highlighting relationship imbalances and the power dynamics within our committed/contracted relationships, both personal and professional.

What's fair? What's needs adjustment/compromise? Have we been looking the other way in an attempt to hold something together?

By August 24, 2020, Juno will be back where she started on February 8th (21 degrees Libra) and Libra's ruler Venus will be about a month out of her own retrograde shadow (July 29th) - these relationship one step forward/two step backs will be in our rear-view mirror one way or the other!

Mercury, flying through Gemini, meets up with Vesta at 26 degrees as they oppose the Galactic Center.

Vesta (our sacred focus/dedication) has been moving through Gemini (the sign of duality/polarity/two sides of the coin) side-by-side with Hygei, "the wash-your-hands, sneeze into your elbow, practice good self-care" asteroid and now Vesta has moved on a bit from that, our focus widening - and here comes Mercury with some news/information - maybe another topic of conversation that becomes very important.

We could also find ourselves obsessing over something someone has said to us or maybe we are obsessed with proving our point! For some people Mercury will be about a sibling, local community or transportation situation and that will be our focus right now.

Mercury/Vesta can be limiting as our focus/dedication narrows and in Gemini could involve the need to choose between two things or the addition of another important thing to focus on. Either way it allows us to focus in on what really matters to us.

As they meet, Mercury/Vesta are opposing the Galactic Center - our collective homing signal, heart of the heavens, the Sun behind the Sun.

Mercury moved through this area on December 27, 2019 when we were 'downloaded' new information/higher guidance - however strongly or subtly we would have felt this - we were in the Eclipse spin cycle then, so it's interesting we get to the opposition just as we are setting up for a new Eclipse cycle. This new focus, the Mercury/Vesta, is opposed by our 'higher guidance' now.

We can see this manifesting in our 3D world as our need to get out into the local community/get to the facts/information (something Gemini-themed) being 'opposed' by a higher authority, or, if you are in the United States, maybe vice-versa depending on what state you live in. Maybe we need to be slowed down/stopped for our higher good - the way a parent would work with a child who has gone too far or too fast. The child must reach these type of milestones, but the parent wouldn't be a parent without stepping in somehow. In your personal life this will be a Gemini/Sag house opposition evolving whatever themes you are carrying there. Note - this isn't like a Saturnian stop signal (the strict father kind of thing). This is maybe more like we haven't learned what we need to learn in order to move on - a more loving guidance based around our contracts here and our own free will.

The Juno/Sun and Mercury/Vesta indicate this is a good time to talk about an important relationship issue. The words can flow smoothly and move things forward one way or the other.

Tonight could be most testy, so keep this in mind.

Maybe we are making choices about what we are keeping and what we are getting rid of. The Cancer Moon (as us) can be feeling overwhelmed/emotional/nostalgic.

We are moving toward Mercury's meeting with the North Node on Thursday - moving forward by making choices/decisions and working with the facts/information and not our 'overly-hopeful' beliefs.


xo all

phoot by the amazing evenliu