(29 March 2015)  In the end, Andreas Lubitz got what he wanted.  The 27-year old Germanwings pilot had told a former girlfriend that he wanted to make a spectacular gesture so that ‘everyone would know his name’.  The world has recoiled in shock and horror on learning that Lubitz deliberately crashed his plane into the French Alps killing himself and all the other 149 people on board on March 24.  It has now emerged that young pilot had hidden his history of clinical depression from his employer in order to keep his job.

There is some uncertainty about the the birth date of Andreas Lubitz.   Some sources report he was born on 18 December 1987 while others say he was born on 28 December, in the town of Montabaur, Germany.  I prefer the chart for 18 December for reasons I outline below.  As an additional obstacle, his birth time is unknown so a full analysis of his horoscope is impossible. However, even his birth date chart reveal some major planetary stresses for the present time. 

In cases of mental illness, the condition of Moon and Mercury are key.  The Moon rules the mind and the emotional self.  Mercury is said to be associated with the rational thinking process.  When both of these planets are afflicted, the odds of some kind of mental anguish increases. 

The Moon is probably more pivotal in this respect and we can see that Lubitz may well have born with the Moon debilitated in the sign of Scorpio.  This can make a person somewhat reactive and intense in their emotional responses to situations.  There is nothing wrong with Scorpio Moons per se, however, but the debilitation factor becomes more important when we look at its corresponding co-factors.  Scorpio is ruled by Mars and Mars is placed in the 12th house from the Moon, the house of loss and isolation.  This should be seen as a negative influence on the Moon and his mental well-being.  And the relative proximity of Mars to the Moon is an additional problem as Mars can be an agitating influence.  If Lubitz was born on the morning then the intensity of Mars would be more strongly felt by his Moon.  

I tend to think he was born in the afternoon or evening as the other main difficulty with his Moon is the close trine aspect from Rahu (North Lunar Node).  Rahu-Moon aspects can create instability in a person.  There can be heightened powers of imagination and creativity but the vulnerability to upset and mood swings increases also.  It is something of a trade-off in that respect: enhanced imagination in exchange for less mental calm and emotional predictability. 

Mercury is also afflicted in his chart as it is in a tight conjunction with Saturn.  Saturn is the planet most connected with depressive moods and sadness so it is no surprise here that Lubitz’ main struggles in life were Saturnian in nature.  To be sure, Mercury (29 Scorpio) is also closely aspected by Jupiter (26 Pisces) and that would lend him a high intellectual capacity that was required for being a good pilot.  However, Saturn’s influence is stronger in the chart since it is closer.  People with strong Saturn charts need order and control to do well in life.  When these are taken away, the result can be paralyzing or sometimes even chaotic.  Lubitz’s girlfriend had recently refused to marry him and had ended their relationship a few weeks ago, so this no doubt affected his self-perception. The order and stability in his life had suddenly been cast aside.

Saturn figures even more prominently in his chart since it is also conjunct the Sun and Uranus.  People with Sun-Uranus conjunctions like to think ‘outside the box’ and abhor convention.  Coupled with Lubitz’s emotional problems, the Sun-Uranus preference for excitement and breaking with the mainstream may have played a role in his seeking a final act of notoriety which would make him famous.

The transits at the time of the crash were particularly stressful.  First, we should note an ongoing Saturn conjunction to his Moon in early Scorpio.  Saturn had been in fairly close conjunction for many months and this was no doubt weighing on him.  Saturn transits to the Moon are usually darker times, especially when individuals have such vulnerable Moons, as Lubitz had.  People with unafflicted Moons usually can come out of such Saturn transits without any problems at all, and can even benefit from the regimentation and discipline that Saturn often brings.  But a debilitated Moon in aspect with Rahu in proximity with Mars is another story. 

Lubitz’s Mars (22 Libra) was also activated by the double alignment of Uranus (21 Pisces) and Pluto (21 Sagittarius).   Mars is the planet most associated with sudden or quick actions and is connected with violence in extreme situations.  The Uranus and Pluto transits here were ongoing for several weeks but the partial aspects were still very close and therefore this had to be very agitating for him.  He felt the strong desire to do something big — to make ‘everyone know his name’.

The insanity of his plan would be more likely be brought to fruition because of transiting Mars’ aspect to the Moon, as well as the lesser degreewise alignment to Mercury, Saturn, Sun, Uranus and Venus.  This short term Mars aspect was likely the triggering influence for this terrible event. Mars (0 Aries) had just entered Aries and it therefore cast its most malefic 8th house aspect (210 degree) to the natal Moon.  Mars to Moon transits are classic indications of anger and emotional outbursts.  All of his well-laid plans could finally be played out in this sinister act of flying a plane at 400 mph into a mountain and taking the lives of 149 innocent people.

Weekly Market Forecast

Stocks generally declined last week as worries over Yemen and slow growth data out of China encouraged more investors to take profits.  The Dow lost 2% closing at 17,712 while the Indian Sensex tumbled almost 3% and finished at 27,458.  This outcome was broadly in keeping with my expectations for a bearish March as Jupiter’s bullish influence is waning.  Jupiter formed an exact 120 degree angle with Uranus on March 3rd — just one day before the all-time high for Indian stocks and one day after the all-time high for US stocks.  Once these Jupiter aspects begin to separate, collective sentiment tends to recede and markets are more susceptible to pullbacks and corrections. 

This week looks quite volatile given the lunar eclipse that is due on Saturday.  The Sun’s conjunction with Ketu on Tuesday is front and center in this respect since the Moon’s nodes are harbingers of eclipses.  As it happens, there are also some bullish short term aspects in the mix also as Venus aligns with Uranus and Pluto on Monday and the Sun aligns with bullish Jupiter on Wednesday.  The markets look quite active here with larger than normal moves more likely although it is less clear if there is a consistent direction indicated by the planets.