Astrology of Scandals: Neptune, Black Moon Lilith & Vertex

Astrology of Scandals

Scandal is an allegation, true or false that affects the reputation of the person and often causes, shame, embarrassment, guilt, self identity issues. When you look at the natal chart of people who are often involved in scandals, there are certain indications in the chart that give a clue to this possibility. But what is striking is that certain planetary bodies stand out through transits and progressions during a scandal.  Some of those factors are discussed below:

Neptune: This is a planet that loves a good gossip, especially in combination with Mercury. Neptune transiting a planet or an angle can often cause loss of reputation, shame and confused identity among others things.  Neptune also causes people to isolate themselves from the world and sometimes this occurs in reaction to a scandal.  For the purpose of the soul development maybe the experience of a scandal is meant to get in touch with the true identity regardless of what is said in the external world, to travel inwards and to isolate in order to connect with the higher self. A scandal also reflects a part of the person that is still confused and needs healing. But to get this stage, first the person has to cross the ocean of embarrassment and shame and embrace themselves and this is no easy task. Neptune also signifies infection wherein a breakage has occurred and made the body vulnerable.  A scandal is similar in that it breaks one’s self esteem and identity.

Black Moon Lilith: Black Moon Lilith is reflective of the dark side of the moon or emotions. It is like the sinister and shadow area of a person that is brought out in scandals. It could be a devoted husband and father political figure who suddenly falls in love with his wife’s best friend, or like Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former governor of California who impregnated the maid while his wife and children were on vacation, or Bill Clinton, a married President having inappropriate relationship with a much younger white house intern, Monica Lewinsky. A scandal often throws light on the part of humanity that we most often prefer to ignore and would rather have it be hidden, but are sometimes forced to confront. Black Moon Lilith expresses this naughty, aggressive, mischievous and restless side of being human.  It is not surprising then that progressed Black Moon Lilith is often seen aspecting a natal planet or an angle during the time of a scandal.

Vertex: Vertex is the third angle (like the ascendant and midheaven) and it is formed at the intersection of the prime vertical and the ecliptic in the natal chart. Although research done on Vertex is not very conclusive and some people don’t consider it significant, it shows up at times when a person faces sudden karmic situations beyond one’s control. A person makes the choice to have an affair but what is leashed in the aftermath of it being exposed is not usually in control of the person. The force inherent in tabloids and social media can gear the scandal to a whole different dimension that is hard to predict at the onset. When Eddie Fisher a popular singer in the 1950’s divorced his wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry Elizabeth Taylor once their affair was exposed, no one could have guessed the impact of the scandal. It pretty much brought his career to a standstill as people were furious with the way he treated his wife.

Astrea: Astrea is an asteroid related to judgments, legal matter, fairness among other stuff and this also not surprisingly shows up during scandals because most incidents seem to finally end up in court whether it’s a sexual allegation, or something that ends in a divorce.

 Astrological Look at Famous Scandals

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver: Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former governor of California’s affair with his maid who eventually gave birth to his son, Joseph was revealed in May 2011. As soon as Maria found out, she confronted him in January 2011 with the help of a therapist, and Schwarzenegger admitted to having an affair. They couple kept it hidden until May 2011 when Maria announced her decision to file for divorce, much against the wishes of her husband who wanted to work it out. Maria Shriver also had a Venus Pluto Aspect that can bring some relationship drama. 

The chart above shows the 90 degree dial of Arnold Schwarzenegger (inner ring), the secondary progression during the event (middle ring) and the transits (outer ring). If you look at the transit in March 2011 when the couple was amidst dealing with their marital issues and just before they went public with it, the progressed Black Moon Lilith had moved to contact the ascendant showing that a more darker side of him is going to be seen by the public (ascendant), Neptune contacting the node and progressed Sun on Neptune shows a period of identity issues and in his case it was due to this scandal. Also, Vertex contacting asteroid Astrea (which is about legal stuff), shows that once the affair was revealed he had no choice but to deal with the divorce.

Tiger Wood:

When you look at all the astrology of scandals, this one takes the cake. November 27, 2009, the night of thanksgiving, Tiger Woods ended up crashing his car against a tree and became unconscious, after being chased by his wife, Elin with a golf club. This occurred shortly after she found out that he was cheating on her. Soon multitudes of women all over the country came out alleging affairs with him. He admitted himself in a sex addiction program, but ended up getting a divorce in August 2010. After this scandal, he did not perform well in his golf tournaments, was dropped off by many of his sponsors and advertisers, and suffered significant financial loss.

It is important to note that in Tiger Wood’s chart natal chart shown above, he has Chiron and Black Moon Lilith in a close conjunction. This combination shows the potential for wounding due to a scandal (something hidden being revealed)  and as we know this incident unleashed a lot of pain and loss that he probably couldn’t have imagined.

The chart above shows the natal chart in the inner ring and the solar arc progression in the outer ring. If you notice, the conjunction of chiron and BML have moved to aspect Tiger Wood’s natal Venus during the time of the scandal. This shows the effect of the pain of his hidden affairs on his relationship which eventually led to divorce.

Bill Cosby: Recent allegations against Bill Cosby by various women include accusations of of rape and other sexually inappropriate behaviours.

 His natal chart ( inner ring) viewed in a 90 degree dial format has Venus aspecting BML which indicates the inherent potential for scandals involving women and currently Neptune is transiting this area of his chart. This combo could also mean the unrefined aspect of how he relates to women. Also, the solar arc progression of Venus and BML have moved to aspect natal mars which probably refers to the anger revolving around this matter. Also in his natal chart Uranus is in close hard aspect to Astrea may refer to sudden cropping of legal issues which is definitely the case here. Astrea and Uranus by solar arc progression have moved to conjunct the natal Pluto bringing this area to focus through all the lawsuits being piled on him.

If you had a situation in your life that involves a scandal, gossip that caused you shame and embarrassment, please share with us any astrological transits or progressions that you experienced during this time.