Oscar Pistorius

Oscar Pistorius was the poster boy for the 2012 Paralympics and a star of that year's full Olympics in his own right. He was the first double amputee to compete in the Games, when he ran in the 400 meters and 4x400 meters relay. His use of prosthetic limbs was highly controversial, but even those who argued Pistorius had an unfair advantage admitted that he was an inspirational figure.

On 14th February 2013 - Valentine's Day - Pistorius's girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was shot to death at his home in Johannesburg, and Pistorius was charged the following day with her murder. Initial reports claimed that he was awoken early in the morning by Steenkamp, whom he mistook for an intruder. The story went that it was a Valentine's surprise gone horribly wrong.

At the bail hearing on 19th February, it emerged that Pistorius had fired four shots through a locked bathroom door, three of which hit Steenkamp. Lawyers argued the crucial point as to whether Pistorius had got up and put on his prosthetic limbs first before firing. According to the prosecution, the time required for this process was enough to make the shooting 'premeditated'. Pistorius made bail and the case continues.

Oscar Pistorius

Astrologically, even a brief look at Pistorius's chart shows a jealous, passionate, romantically obsessive nature. His Scorpio stellium includes Venus conjunct Pluto, a classic controlling signature, regardless of the sign. This is the mythological Rape of Persephone brought to life, where the individual's passions are intensified and he is sucked into an emotional Underworld. Ideally, such base emotions are expressed freely and transformed, but anyone with Venus-Pluto aspects, let alone a conjunction in Scorpio, will (over)react strongly to the slightest stimulus or provocation. 

Pistorius's intense energy was sublimated into running, to a degree, and we saw his competitive nature clearly at the 2012 Paralympics. He made a furious outburst after failing to win his expected gold in the 200m. The 'focus' routinely described by athletes would have been far greater in his case, simply in order to run at all, let alone at a world-class level. Pistorius's mother raised him to be self-reliant, no different to anyone else, and never to feel sorry for himself.

Venus-Pluto in Scorpio are squared by the Moon at 3 Leo in the Sixth house, adding emotional fire to an already volatile mixture. A man's Moon and Venus are archetypes of femininity, showing the kind of woman he is instinctively attracted to. With Moon and Venus in square, the picture is complex - he wants somebody dark and intense, but also sunny and generous, and the two qualities are at odds. He can have one side or the other, but seemingly never both together.

Then we see Reeva Steenkamp's natal Mars in Leo exactly conjunct Pistorius's Moon, acting as a trigger. This contact reveals a tetchy, passionate relationship, with a potential for 'needle', and ultimately violence if the physical energy is backed up. Her free-spirited retrograde Venus square Uranus may also run into difficulties with a possessive type of man. We do not have a birth-time for Reeva, but a noon chart puts her Moon at 10 Capricorn, where Pluto is currently transiting. 

Their - admittedly wide - composite Sun-Venus conjunction is the signature of love par excellence. This is a very common pattern in a close relationship, be it friends, family or lovers. Two people who are just extremely fond of each other, because they can't help it. Does this make a foolproof relationship? Far from it. Composite Sun-Venus often has a compulsive quality that means a couple cannot detach, even when they are not good for each other. 'Can't live together, can't live apart'. Composite Mars opposite Saturn also shows frustration and a potential physical mismatch.

Composite

Transiting Saturn having recently passed over Pistorius's Venus-Pluto, suggests a relationship going through a testing phase. There might have been a repeating pattern of behaviour between him and Reeva, and also a large element of fate. Saturn approaching his midheaven makes the infamous event very public, a kind of South African OJ Simpson case. Instead of being a famous athlete, he has become a famous criminal. Add further a hair-trigger mutual Moon-Uranus conjunction on the 14th February, and we see abundant potential for an event such as happened on the fatal day. 

Nobody disputes that Pistorius actually fired the shots that killed Reeva - the only argument concerns his intent. The added frustration he must have experienced as a double amputee would bring extra pressures in a domestic situation. He may have felt powerless, and in a moment of madness fired his gun in order to assert himself. Very likely. To say that his and Reeva's horoscopes, looked at together, show that they loved each other in no way blurs the astrological picture. Two passionate people with strong feelings, are the classic ingredients of a crime passionnel, or 'temporary insanity'.