Dzhokhar Tsarnaev – A look at the birth chart of the Boston Bomber

I have deliberately waited until Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured before doing this post as not to give him any publicity on my website. Being a site where I do like to look at the news and the characters making the headlines, this one was a difficult call to make and I thought with an on-going operation and with people’s lives at risk, I believed it insensitive to go into the character of this lad. Now that he will face the full face of justice I am happier to have a look at his horoscope.

Ok he was born we do know on 22nd July 1993 quite possibly in Kyrgyzstan if reports are to be correct, but certainly in the Caucuses region of Russia and quite understandably we do not have a birth time for him, so in these respects I am rather limited. He has a late Cancerian Sun and I would imagine a Virgo Moon. This is a chart with no planets in fire signs and therefore this is a young man who is not impulsive but is more strategic in personality. There are five cardinal planets here and so he will not be someone to let the grass grow under his feet, he will be more of a mover and a shaker than someone who waits for things to happen.

The Cancerian Moon is defensive and loves the past and the Virgo Moon is modest in nature and not the type to show it’s feelings too much. This is a lad who would work hard to create the security base that the Cancerian Sun required and so I am not surprised he was a good student and had career ambitions. Cancerians love their family and friends and are generally sunny and bright in nature, he would have been popular especially to his circle of friends.

The Sun and Mercury both in Cancer make a trine to Pluto and here I find a need to be significant, a need for power and an intense patriotism for his homeland and roots. I read the he and his brother were still very connected to their Chechen past and homeland where he grew up as a child in a war torn land. This link shows talent for delving beneath the surface of any issues and he would have had an interest in technology and scientific matters, as well as the internet. This wedge structure shows technical excellence and skill and with his Moon in detailed and precise Virgo and Pluto receiving a square from Saturn the planet of ambition and career I can see why he had ambitions to be a brain surgeon – the attention to detail and potential expertise here is very impressive. Mercury is the planet of the mind and here it is retrograde, so with the trine from Pluto there is an obsession in looking into the internal workings of the brain. Neptune making the opposition brings in the interest in medical practices and thus a career based around them. I am sure if he had pursued these aims and not got involved in this bomb plot, he would have gone on to become an excellent surgeon. 

However, as with any outer planets there is another side to the story. Uranus and Neptune conjunct in Capricorn show the ambition for freedom from rules and regulations, freedom of religion and collective responsibility to overthrow governments and anyone else who goes against the radical (Uranus) beliefs (Neptune) that one has. This opposition from Neptune to Mercury would make him rather susceptible to listening to and being influenced others, especially those with these more revolutionary views. This particular Uranus Neptune conjunction came together in the early 90’s as the peoples of Eastern Europe and Russia were overthrowing their communist rulers and this generation have it inbuilt into their natal charts. Whether these urges are activated in them is down to the accompanying inner planets making aspects to this conjunction. Here, Dzhokhar had a trine from Mars in Virgo, the planet of action, aggression in the sign of service and in my book a military aspect, potentially making a conjunction to his Virgo Moon making an emotional attachment to these impulses. The trine here feeds the need to take action on behalf of these desires of freedom.

The shock that this lad had this kind of action in him may have surprised some people, but looking at his chart not me as an Astrologer. With Mercury retrograde trine Pluto, this is a guy who would keep those deepest darkest thought purely to himself, he could keep a secret. And why would anyone suspect? Jupiter is peregrine and unconnected to any other planet by major aspect, so he would be very optimistic, fun and have a big personality. Mars square to Venus was amorous and attractive to the opposite sex and Venus in Gemini is very friendly, even flirtatious in nature. He would be chatty and popular. The Moon opposite to Saturn would hold his emotions very much in check and he may have been quite a shy person even though he may have been popular. That Saturn in Aquarius is distrustful of groups and may have made him a bit of a loner emotionally, however the opposition would have impelled him to do something to gain appreciation and love. This is an attention seeking aspect which is afraid maybe of making a emotional commitment out of fear, so if not though love what action could he take to get that appreciation? We all now know.

So the potential sat here, latent energy in that Virgo Mars that is just as much for good in a perfectionist way as it is for bad intentions connected to the internal workings of the mind (Mercury) and the freedom fighting and potentially unstable aspect of Neptune Uranus, but what triggered it in such a violent manner? Lets go deeper.

I was looking at his midpoint picture and one shone out like a beacon!! The midpoint of Mars and Saturn, the death point on his chart lay conjunct to his North Node. This very interestingly with the North Node, this is a point of making unfortunate liaisons. Not only that, the North Node sits directly almost to the minute on the fixed Star Antares and his South Node on the fixed star Aldebaran, both Royal Persian stars and probably the most important axis in the night skies. Antares as a star breeds success and notoriety through extremes including life and death experiences, and connected to the North Node we have a link to the passionate struggles of groups. This is a connection that works in focusing in on small issues or projects that have large consequences. At the other end of this axis we have Aldebaran conjunct the South Node. Aldebaran again brings success and is connected to military aspirations, and a Nodal connection here shows the idea that you are the representative for a particular idea or cause. All Persian stars have a downside and if you abuse the power given to you, if your intentions are dishonest, deceitful and not pure in nature, if you fall prey to obsession and the wrong way of doing things then a fall of huge magnitude will befall you and in Aldebaran’s case, a fiery ordeal will await you.

So we have this triple point on his chart, the Mars/Saturn conjunct North Node conjunct Antares. A lethal point of destiny connected to death, of making the wrong choices in the people you are associating with, a point of feeling empathy for the struggles of others and a point of working in a small group to make a big difference. A point of success to but also a point of downfall if that success was gained in the wrong manner.

At the time of the bomb, Mars and the Sun in conjunction were making a square to his Cancerian Sun, making him take forceful action, this was the trigger for him to make a move. Jupiter was applying a square to his Mars bringing confidence and a sense of risk taking, transiting Uranus also opposed his powerful natal Jupiter and Pluto was making a square, so he would be motivated into making a big unexpected and powerful statement.

Just as interestingly though, the transiting Nodes were making trines and sextiles to his natal Mars and Uranus/Neptune conjunction and the Saturn Pluto sextile in the sky that has been in action for many weeks now were making a Yod to his natal South Node and thus were at the midpoint of his North Node, activating this fateful Mars/Saturn conjunct North Node conjunct Antares axis in his chart. The Nodes were lighting up all the aggressive intent, all the ideas, the technical ability, all the sympathies, all the desire, a link to death and bringing success but also a great fall from grace.

The thing that bugs me is though from this chart is the midpoint signature, of Mars Saturn on his North Node. What or who were these unfortunate liaisons that he made? Was it his brother, or other people who were the ones to motivate this lad to do the deeds he did, for I think someone had to push the buttons inside him for him to act? A 19 year old in my opinion is unlikely to have the expertise and the training to carry out such a well executed hit without help. Maybe the Saturn Pluto sextile that has been sitting astride his Nodal Axis for many weeks now gives us a clue? If this was a purely spiritual or faith based activity, maybe Neptune would be highlighted in some manner however with the spread of planets in his chart, transiting Neptune has not touched any of his natal planets for years. I leave you to make your own conclusions on what or who influenced him.

His chart shows I think not only the power of astrology itself, but of the potent effect of the Nodal axis and the fixed stars. His destiny was one of a turning point in the form of a yod and a seminal event triggered by a fiery conjunction of Mars and the Sun. His name will go down in US history for ever more…