Gunmen on the loose at Washington DC navy yard.

News out of Washington DC is that there is a shooting incident going on at the US navy base there in the nation’s capital. There are reports of fatalities and a possibility of more than one gunman on the loose, quite possibly two. US defence spokespeople say that there have been several fatalities and people injured. This is an on-going incident and as I write one gunman is “contained” but has not yet been apprehended.

I look straight away at the US chart and immediately you can see that Mars is the main culprit here in this incident. Transiting Mars is moving in the 6th house of the military services and it is making 4 aspects. The closest is an inconjunct to natal Mars just 0:05 degrees from being exact. Mars is the planet of violence and the military forces and service people, of the police, of guns and of action. The second aspect sees a quindecile from transiting Mars to natal Pluto the planet of death and destruction and on the US chart this planet rules the Midheaven so this is a public story that is garnering attention.

The third aspect is a sextile to natal Uranus, the US chart ruler as Aquarius sits on the US Ascendant. Any aspect to the US Uranus will be felt by the United States very keenly as this goes to the heart of the nation. The final aspect here is a square to the US Mercury and Saturn. The Square to Saturn shows this incident was unexpected and will cause suffering as Saturn rules the 12th house and also it hits the administration (Saturn) in some way, and happening in Washington DC this is certainly true. The square to Mercury is interesting as Mercury rules the 4th house of the opposition to the Government (through Gemini) and affects the 7th house of relations with other nations, this is the house of open enemies and known opponents of the country. This begs the question is this gunman someone of foreign extraction? The aspects to the 9th house Saturn and Mercury also hint to links overseas.

Looking at the outer planets and their movements, transiting Saturn is very near to a Saturn return which obviously indicated difficult times and loss and transiting Uranus is also making a very tricky and uncomfortable square to natal Mars and the Nodal axis, signifying an unpredictable situation and mood in the US. Unfortunately with this long term square in action right now, in the next month and returning especially in March/April next year, these kind of violent shooting incidents may well blight the US for some time to come.