Since the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month, public interest in his alleged killer Luigi Mangione has surged to an extraordinary degree. Driven by dismay at the high cost of health insurance in America, and the outrage felt by those who’ve been unsuccessful in having their own claims honored, many people now regard Mangione as a folk hero.

But murder is murder, however justified some might judge Mangione’s actions. Therefore, this article doesn’t intend to debate the morality of the act, but simply to assess the astrological signatures of the players involved in the crime.

At this stage, only the birthdates and birthplaces of Mangione and Thompson are available, not their birthtimes. On the other hand, video evidence at the scene of the crime clearly recorded the fatal shooting at 6:44 AM on December 4th, 2024, in downtown Manhattan.

This allows us to consider the astrological equivalent of the “Locard Exchange Principle” originated by Dr Edmond Locard (1877–1966), a criminologist in forensic science who later became known as the Sherlock Holmes of France. Locard’s principle holds that the perpetrator of a crime will bring something to the crime scene, and will also leave with something from it, thus providing an initial “chain of evidence” linking perpetrator, victim and crime.

The crime/event horoscope

According to Krishnamurti Paddhati, the “ruling planets” of a horoscope provide a vital link to any other horoscope with which it is related, eg, between the natal charts of a couple, between a natal and horary chart, between a natal and event chart, etc. As such, the ruling planet concept provides “evidence” that could conceivably be analyzed as an astrological correlate of Locard’s Exchange Principle.

Criteria for ruling planet:In this event horoscope:Other observations:
Lagna nakshatra lordSaturnSaturn aspects ascendant
Lagna sign lordMars1st/6th lord Mars afflicts 7th lord Venus
Moon’s nakshatra lordVenus7th/12th lord afflicted by Mars
Moon’s sign lordJupiterJupiter is a double maraka in the 7th house
Day lordMercuryMercury is the 8th lord in the ascendant

From this table above, we can make one general statement – Saturn and Mars as sookshma (subtle) and shtoola (gross) lords, respectively, of the lagna are the primary astrological “fingerprints” left at the scene of the crime. As a consequence, we might reasonably expect that similar astrological signatures could be evident in both the circumstances and horoscopes of the crime and its perpetrator.

For starters, consider the six shell casings found at the scene of the crime, on each of which was inscribed one or another of these words: “delay,” “deny,” “depose.” This is a direct allusion to a popular credo of practice for health insurers in America – to stall a health claim, to deny its applicability, and to dismiss coverage. What is immediately evident to most any astrologer is that all three of these words are descriptors of Saturn’s typical effects, ie, delay, denial, dismissal.

Since Mars is lagnesh in this crime chart, it represents the shooter, Mangione. Its debilitation in the 9th house suggests a radical philosophy that justifies violence. From the 9th house, Mars aspects the 7th lord Venus (victim Brian Thompson) in the 3rd house (struck down in transit). The mutuality of the aspect suggests this was driven as much by personal grievance as principled motivation.

Luigi Mangione

Although we don’t have a birthtime for Mangione, I’ve speculated as to what his ascendant might be. My first thought was to give him a nakshatra rising ruled by Saturn, similar to that in effect at the time of the shooting. Those options would be Pushya (CN), Anuradha (SC), or Uttara Bhadrapada (PI). My second thought was to place transiting Mars exactly upon his ascendant (symbolically, with weapon in hand) at the time of the shooting. As a combination of those two premises, Pushya rising satisfies both conditions. Let’s consider the hypothetical horoscope for Mangione as shown below.

With Cancer rising, that puts the Sun, Mars and Saturn all in the 10th house. Three malefics dominating the kendras suggests a person subject to pain and suffering, but also capable of violence. Furthermore, all three have avasthas that demand our attention. The Sun is exalted with digbala, Mars is swarashi and combust with digbala, and Saturn is debilitated. A powerful Sun/Mars combination is a signature for a fighter or warrior. A Mars/Saturn combo is a signature for violence and/or destruction. Mars aspecting the lagna gives anger, while Saturn aspecting the 7th house threatens others.

Independent of the criminal act itself, does this horoscope conform to what we know about Mangione? With three malefics in the kendras, a technical career is likely. He is well educated (4th lord Venus exalted in the 9th), with a BSc and MSc in computer engineering and information science, with a minor in mathematics. Since graduation he worked as a data engineer for a vehicle retail website.

This tentative horoscope holds a few noteworthy yogas. First and foremost is a Ruchaka yoga formed by Mars swa-rashi in the 10th house. Among other possibilities, such a well-placed Mars is a classic signature for doctors, engineers, and militarists, the second of which applies to Mangione. His horoscope also reveals a Kala Sarpa pattern, labeled a Class 4 because the Moon lies beyond the degree of the nodal axis. The amplification principle of Kala Sarpa is discussed in the next section.

The Mars/Saturn pair creates a Dharma-Karma Adhipati yoga of mixed condition, wherein 5th lord Mars is swa-rashi and combust with digbala, while 7th lord Saturn is debilitated. Meanwhile, 2nd lord Sun and 5th lord Mars combine to produce a powerful Dhana yoga, since both grahas enjoy strength in Aries, and both gain digbala in the 10th house. This seems fitting in light of the fact that Mangione’s family is very wealthy.

Independent of that 10th house cluster, the Moon and Jupiter in mutual aspect offer a Kesari yoga, albeit one that is adulterated to some degree by their alignment on the nodal axis in the 2nd/8th houses. By all accounts from classmates and friends, Mangione was articulate and sociable, but increasingly isolated over the past couple of years.

Mangione suffered from spondylolisthesis and underwent spinal fusion surgery in 2023, from which he continued to endure pain. The spine can be considered jointly signified by the Sun and Saturn, the first for its association with bones, the latter for its rulership of the skeletal system, of which the spine is the core. No matter which perspective we might adopt, Sun or Saturn, each is afflicted by two malefics without relief. However, Saturn is the most compromised, since it is debilitated and afflicted by two powerful malefics.

Although I used a birthtime of 11h36 for the hypothetical horoscope shown above, I also considered 12h11, which would have placed transiting Saturn exactly on his 8th house cusp. However, that would give him an Ashlesha lagna rather than Pushya, and transiting Mars would no longer be exactly on his ascendant. An argument could be made for either case – Pushya to provide a parallel to the rising nakshatra of the event ascendant, or Ashlesha to invoke the stealth and striking power of a sarpa nakshatra.

In any event, birthtime specificity aside, I judged a Cancer ascendant with three malefics in the 10th to (a) conform to what we know of him, and (b) be sufficiently suggestive of someone who could commit such a crime. This becomes all the more relevant given the prominence of Mars and Saturn in this hypothetical birth chart, evoking the two primary ruling planets of the crime horoscope.

Kala Sarpa

So long as Mangione was born before 15h45 EDST on his birthday, he will have a Kala Sarpa horoscope. The odds are 66% that such is the case, since it is only after 15h45 that the Moon would leave Leo and thereby negate the criteria for the pattern. If Kala Sarpa applies, he will join the ranks of other infamous killers such as Peter Sutcliffe (aka the Yorkshire Ripper), Richard Ramirez (aka the Nightstalker), and Ted Bundy, all of whom were Kala Sarpa natives too. Lest one protest that a single killing can’t compare to a serial killer’s body count, remember that Mangione allegedly had a “to-do” list that he never got around to completing.

Two other Kala Sarpa criminals that merit comparisons with Mangione are Andreas Baader and Ted Kaczynski. Baader was the leader of the left-wing militant organization Red Army Faction, aka the Baader-Meinhof Group, that in 1968-72 engaged in domestic terrorism in West Germany to protest what they described as the public’s “indifference to the genocide in Vietnam.”

Ted Kaczynski, aka the “Unabomber,” was an American mathematician, anarchist and domestic terrorist who served a lifetime prison sentence for domestic terrorism. A mathematical prodigy, he abandoned a university career to adopt a primitive lifestyle in Montana. During 1978-1995, he conducted a mail bombing campaign that killed three people and injured 23 others, targeting people involved with modern technology. Concurrently, he issued social critiques opposing industrialization while promoting an eco-centric form of anarchism.

What makes the Kaczynski comparison so compelling is that the police now believe Mangione was inspired by Kaczynski’s essay Industrial Society and Its Future (1995), and further motivated by his own personal views on health insurance. Aside from both men (likely) sharing a Kala Sarpa configuration, there’s another astrological element that appears in both their charts. Both of them have the Sun and Saturn in association, a generic signature for anti-authoritarianism.

Bear in mind that a Kala Sarpa pattern has the potential to amplify whatever else is found in the horoscope. In Mangione’s case, those malefics in the 10th house take on greater import, since all three are in exaggerated condition: the Sun is exalted, Mars is totally combust, and Saturn is debilitated.

Mangione’s dasha-bhukti sequence

Absent a confirmed birthtime, this is an exercise in speculation, but let’s consider Mangione’s possible dasha-bhukti timeline. Assuming that he was born somewhere around midday to place his Moon in the last few degrees of Leo, he would have been running Rahu-Jupiter.

Note first that Rahu afflicts the Moon, which is lagnesh for this hypothetical horoscope. Rahu is a provocateur for destabilization of all sorts, and in this horoscope could have both physical and psychological ramifications.

Jupiter bhukti is swa-nakshatra, therefore a strong indicator for itself, by virtue of its placement and lordship. As the 6th lord in the 8th house, some might think this qualifies as a Viparita yoga, but it doesn’t meet the criteria, since it’s aspected by the Moon, a non-trik lord. Quite the contrary, Jupiter remains deeply problematic, both a trik lord and a trik occupant, and is suggestive of both illness and/or trauma since it’s in sambandha with the lagnesh Moon.

Mangione underwent a spinal fusion surgery in July 2023, shortly after he entered Rahu-Jupiter. At the time, transiting malefics Mars and Saturn opposed each other while simultaneously aligned on his natal Rahu/Ketu axis. Since then, he has apparently continued to suffer unremitting pain.

The natal Moon on the nodal axis is a signature for a potentially disturbed manas, and therefore a precursor for distorted thinking, mental illness and related behaviors. The other subtle suggestions of mental disturbance in Mangione’s horoscope are Saturn aspecting his hypothetical 4th house, and 4th lord Venus in the Saturn-ruled nakshatra of Uttara Bhadrapada.

From Chandra-lagna, the Sun/Mars/Saturn trio in Aries would occupy the 9th house. Thus, Mars would become the lord of the two houses – 4th and 9th – that rule ethics and morality. Given Mars’s combustion, and the affliction from both Sun and Saturn, such a combination could manifest as a harsh philosophy, perhaps one of retribution (“an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”) that could take the form of civil disobedience, domestic terrorism, etc.

Briefly, from a Jaimini perspective, we might also note that Sun/Mars/Saturn in Aries all cast rashi drishti on his Leo Moon, thereby creating a pressure cooker of tension that eventually erupted.

This condition of the lagnesh Moon, tied in so closely with both dasha lord Rahu and bhukti lord Jupiter, created a “perfect storm” of destabilization. Within the broader context of a Kala Sarpa configuration that magnifies the role of dominant grahas, Rahu dasha invoked the exaggerated quality of three malefics in the kendras. Subsequently, Jupiter bhukti provoked surgery and pain which, without relief, caused his life to unravel, ultimately manifesting as “noble principles” (9th lord and dharmakaraka) gone wrong (in the 8th house), resulting in a radical act of violence.

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You can also check out my post on this same subject on my YouTube channel at: https://youtu.be/0xG8abXMrRM

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Alan Annand is a Vedic astrologer, palmist and author. He’s a graduate of the British Faculty of Astrological Studies and was for many years their sole tutor for students in USA and Canada. After being introduced to jyotish, he was certified by the American College of Vedic Astrology, and went on to enjoy advanced instruction from Hart de Fouw. Aside from consulting and tutoring, he has long been a professional writer, straddling the corporate and creative worlds. His New Age Noir crime novels feature an astrologer protagonist whom one reviewer has dubbed “Sherlock Holmes with a horoscope.” His books on Vedic astrology – Kala Sarpa, Parivartana Yoga, and Stellar Astrology, Vols 1-4 – have been praised for the quality of their research and writing. His latest book – Kama Yoga: Love, Marriage & Sexuality in Jyotish – is a complete guide to personal relationships as seen through the lens of Vedic astrology.

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