Astrology of the Stonewall Riots
In honor of Pride Month further amplified with the Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, I cast the astrological chart of the recorded time police approached the entry doors of the Stonewall Inn at 1:20am on June 28th, 1969 in New York City.
I claim to be no authority on this subject but acknowledge with deep respect the impact this event impressed upon the equality of the collective. This event and the subsequent protests and marches birthed a shift in the norm, midwifed by those brave individuals who would not tolerate the discrimination, and for the individuals and collective that moved gay rights into existence.
Evolution takes effort, and from an astrological perspective, the energy was ripe for just that.
Imagine the heat that summer night. The humidity of the city end of June.Dark street corners, dark brick buildings lining the village pathways, a cityscape known for it’s winding streets, hard angled corners and thin alleyways. The Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in Greenwich. Downtown New York City. A building with boarded windows, a safe haven— a refuge to people who were obliged to reserve their affections, and their identities to these sanctioned spaces, shadowed from everyday society. To be out was dangerous. Shame, ridicule, arrests, judgment, and condemnation are words that come to mind. The interviews and photographs of this period document the camaraderie and community that gathered there as a space of comfort, and relaxation. A place to be one’s authentic self. The 1960’s were considered the dark ages for homosexuals and anyone identifying on the queer spectrum.
We generally think of the 1960’s as this time of reform—shifts in consciousness. The end of a war, the death of great political leaders, civil rights, the summer of love, free love, sex, open minds and new designer drugs used to increase awareness. This was supposed to be the Aquarian Age, the entry point for concepts of oneness, casting away US vs THEM and affirming WE. Spaceship Earth, man. Mankind united— and yet there were those left to the dark meeting points of shipping containers in the meat packing districts, and the only place to express affection, express self as in the bricked up, windowless gay bars. They could be listed, outed, lose their jobs, fall between the cracks and the upsetting reality of that dark phrase.
Try to set your mind into that space… one of fear, perhaps paranoia. An imposed understanding that being your natural self was offensive, ungodly or unnatural. Imagine the lack of safety, a stomach of secrets.
Change comes from within. Change doesn’t happen with all of us waking up and suddenly - POOF - the sky is a different tone of blue— or that we collectively break out into a universal kumbaya - it is about our individual actions. It’s by using our little human wills, using our voices, and uniting in something together that will swing the pendulum hard enough the other direction it will find a new center.
The energy of that moment, of the police entering, was an ushering in of new energies fired by the pain of the past, by the wounds of not being enough or being acknowledged.
The sun, the core vitalizing piece of this occurrence, was in Cancer. Cancer, a cardinal (initiatory) water (emotionally attuned) zodiac sign, ruled by the moon. Cancer the nurturer, the mother bird who knows when to be kind, and when to be firm. The sun, a masculine, vitalizing force infused with the sacred feminine of Cancer is the perfect duality to set the stage. It’s center placement in the 3rd house ruling communication and that of brothers and sisters and those we identify with, plays out that key sense of community that was dialed in at the moment of response.
The ascendant (rising sign) is the mask worn at this moment. In Aries, the masculine driving force is fueled by a good battle, a pioneering energy ready to move forward and climb the mountain — act first on impulse and ask questions later.
The moon sign is in Sagittarius— (the emotional tone/stuck energy preventing this karmic bypass from moving forward) one of high spiritual energy, feeling there is a special purpose or a life’s calling. This combo of the moon in the 8th house of transformation, of soul calling is about leaps of faith— taking risks to go beyond our basic instincts. It is an intuitive combination, driven by following its ideals— or, getting involved in controversies. In this incident, it feels like both.
The Sagittarius moon is in perfect opposition (tension) to Mercury (the mind or messenger) in Gemini- the dual thinker, asking for spontaneity, urging to connect, and to speak up! This is an inflamed tension of inner conflict between thought and feeling.
Looking towards the wound of this chart, indicated by the Asteroid Chiron, the wounded healer, it lies in Aries energy — veiled in the 12th house of the unseen. The wound of not being good enough, not being worthy, of being seen. Undeserving of a place at life’s table of nourishment, not being good enough, I am a secret, I cannot want what I want in public spaces, so I must remain hidden. This wound is in a wide conjunction (12 degrees) of the chart’s North Node ruler - the direction of the chart, where it aims to proceed. It, too, is in the 12th house, in the sign of Pisces, the natural ruler of the 12th house of things unseen, of the subconscious. This Piscean energy can fuel the martyrdom, or rise to become the vehicle for true service. Through right sacrifice, we can belong. We can accept ourselves completely. This conjunction of the North Node (selfless service of Pisces) and the Chiron wound (pioneering Aries) indicates the healer, the spiritual teacher and the INITIATOR to integrate and unlock the potential of that moment.
The first house of ideal self, shares Aries and Taurus energy with Saturn and Venus both in Taurus (ruled by Venus). This creates an air of Self-worth, valuing self and having the self-discipline to create that ideal self. This is about inner changes and seeking out what you want most in life… to be seen! To be a part of the group! To be equals! THIS is what this chart of the moment implies. With Venus in Taurus opposite of Neptune in Scorpio, this creates a vision of service to others, the vision of self-worth, of the future, a vision of integrity of self and soul clan. This same combination gives a natural heir of eccentricity, and with Neptune in Scorpio in its placement conjunct Mars in Sagittarius - the word Masquerade comes to mind. Neptune is the ruler of lipstick, glamour, movie stars and anything shiny - and in Scorpio, there is an intensity in bringing this to the surface. Masquerade- the technical legal term in that era for those individuals posing in the clothing of the opposite sex. We think of drag queens when we envision this uprising, those with a sense of humor to battle the injustices of societal judgment. Humor was no longer cutting through the barriers— action needed to be taken to reach a new level of communication.
The piece in this chart that gave me chills was that Uranus, the planet of influence, the ruler of chaos, of expecting the unexpected, of enlightening energy, of new clarity and insight, had moved into Libra energy —by less than a degree. 45 seconds into Libra, and Uranus, this chaos factor, lit a fire.
For those of us not perceptive in 1969, to illustrate Uranus’ chaos factor, think of March 2010. The week that Uranus entered the fiery arena of Aries, a tsunami occurred. <>Eruptive <>is the word I think of with Uranus. Pushing everything to the surface to be looked at under a deep microscopic gaze.
In Libra, the sign of justice, harmony, of all-inclusive love and connection, a “we’re not going to take it!” energy occurred. Uranus in Libra in a running stellum (planets/astrological entities in a running conjunction or close connection) of Virgo’s integrity with Jupiter (expansion, good fortune, blessings in disguise) conjunct the South Node (past pain, history) and conjunct Pluto (deep, soulful transformation). This stack of intensity, of past patterns of “am i good enough?” and of expansion and uncertainty was all there in the sign of betterment, Virgo in it’s home of the sixth house - day to day life, or ultimately- the house of service, the house of the masters. This energy of change of justice of love of all inclusiveness is fired up!
So you look at a chart as it’s whole, not only as it’s individual components as illustrated here. I see Cardinal, initiating energy all around. The desire to be seen (Aries) to do it with integrity and organization (Capricorn at the top of the chart) was pressured and fueled by a sense of justice and unity as the inspiring force. We see the wounds of the past, of not being good enough, not being worthy of being seen (Chiron in Aries, North Node Pisces in the twelfth house). We have the fuel of integration, masculine and feminine energies being welcomed together (sun in Cancer) in self-discipline, the self-worthiness (Saturn and Venus in the first house in Taurus) all in rubber band-like tension with “what’s for the good of the whole?” EQUALITY! The passion and drive, the emotional fuel of the Moon tied closely to Mars both in Sagittarius — this is about leaps of faith! Fuel for risk-taking and for change. The Stellum of the great gas giants - the far-out planets of Uranus, Jupiter and Pluto asking for integrity, integration and unity. Justice and harmony playing out in a scheduled and meaningful way.
The results of that night were passionate, followed by empowered organization and the meaningful gathering of folx asking to be accepted into the fold, and celebrating their PRIDE in being who and what they are without shame. The march. To be seen, heard and out of the dark. This energy of change, this shift in consciousness, this moment of execution, to be heard, to be seen, to be part of society— has completely transformed the way we view gender, transformed the way we view people in this day and age.
Having grown up in the 80’s and 90’s with a mother that was into astrology, she started to see people through their charts as souls. She said if we could all see one another as soul, we wouldn’t care about their bodies, we wouldn’t care about what gender assignment they are— we would see them as spiritual beings, as energy itself in the physical. As my friend and performer Lucy Stoole reminds me— “Hearts -not-Parts.”
If not for the brave beings, those souls who chose to be there for the uprising at Stonewall Inn and for the challenge of seizing that opportunity to be seen, heard, and viewed as a part of— there’d be no Pride month, there’d be no celebration of diversity in this sense. There would be the disenfranchised scattered to the edges of heteronormative culture. Hold dear to our hearts the heroes who have brought inclusion in all the forms and varieties of human expression through this event and through all the efforts that stemmed from this night.
