Astro-Notes: the Tragic Death of Journalist Michael Hastings
by Jude Cowell
UPDATE December 4, 2025: Not for the faint of heart, this vintage post has been edited for clarity. It needed it. This update is inspired by an Instagram reel by a former agent asserting that the CIA spies on us in many ways, including taking control of cars and causing crashes.
Posted in 2013:
As soon as I heard of the death in a 'car crash' of Michael Hastings in Los Angeles I set up a horoscope of the tragedy (June 18, 2013 at 4:30 am PDT; source: news reports) and saw that cosmic signatures of mayhem were present. Perhaps conclusive, perhaps not.
Since then I've been on alert for information on what entity or issue he was researching because the info might turn out to be full of clues as to the How, Why, Where, and Who of this very sad matter. Known for his game-changing Rolling Stone article re: General Stanley McCrystal--The Runaway General--Mr. Hastings was a fearless truth seeker of the sort that no power manipulator tolerates for long once their revelations become too inconvenient or interfere too deeply in The Power Game.
'Naming names' is a dangerous business in the power-mad world of Politics, and if memory serves, Hastings had written about or was researching the CIA's John Brennan as well. These days, the Epstein matter is risky business.
Known at that time, at impact Pinto cars can explode and burst into flames - but a Mercedes will not; notably, zealous Uranus is at the "A Bomb Is Safely Hidden --" degree:
News Update 6.20.13: police (video has long since been removed) don't suspect any foul play and await results of a toxicology test.
Original post continues here...
So below, you see the crash horoscope with US natal Uranus 8Gem55 rising (our nation's 'totem' planet of revolution, rebellion, shock, attack, disruption, separation) along with transiting Mars @12Gem44 with Gemini being the sign of traveling Mercury and of writers and journalists. Sun and Jupiter are rising as well and are about to conjoin in their yearly meet-up which may indicate a promise of sunlight cast upon someone of a Jupiterian nature such as generals, politicians, bankers, religious leaders, professors, etc.
It's an Hour of controlling Saturn (stoppage; loss; karma), plus, in the transiting 2nd house (National Treasury and Earning Ability) are Mercury the Scribe or the Messenger still within orb of vengeful Venus, with both planets stimulating the starry Gemini Twins, Castor and Pollux - each star with writing and creating talents of their own but with murderous potential when conditions are right.
So did Michael Hastings and his reporting "fly too close to the Sun"?
Asteroid Icarus may say, Yes, especially since its archetype may be used to signify assassination. Here I've penned on the asteroid's position @9AQ00 Rx in the 9th house of Publishing, and outside the chart, the natal placements of Sun 7AQ55 and Mercury 13AQ01 of Michael Hastings, born January 28, 1980 ('noon' EST) in Burlington, Vermont. Therefore, his natal Sun-Mercury = June 18, 2013 Icarus.
Meanwhile, another asteroid - Phaethon - can also symbolize "flying too close to the sun," the assassination archetype, and in the crash chart, Phaethon rises with arsonist Mars. Spot on!
Then getting back to the chart's Ascendant @8Gem28 (the event itself), we know that combinations of Mars-Uranus signify explosions and fires (and fast traveling), and at Ascendant the pair denotes those who find pleasure in upsetting others, abusive people who impede one's progress, acts of violence (ex: assassination), accidents, upsetting events, physical injury, and/or arrest. And actually, crash Sun-Jupiter conjoined the journalist's natal Moon in late Gemini creating a midpoint picture with a potential for "a strong need to address the motives of others" (M. Munkasey). Just like a determined journalist would do!
Then on a personal level, the 18 North Pre-Natal Eclipse Saros Series ('PE') of Michael Hastings indicates that accidents and physical injury are themes in his life (he covered wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and sadly lost his fiance there in an explosion.) And here we see that the crash chart's Hammer/s of Thor (or, Fist/s of God) point to the 10th house Neptune @5Pis20 Rx (conjunct President Obama's natal 1st house Chiron Rx), a shady planet associated with death, loss, and assassination as is spying Pluto @10Cap37 Rx ("the assassin") in the 8th house of Death and Transformation - at impact.
So the purpose of this post is to record some of the astrological portents concerning the untimely, cruel death of truth-finder and American patriot, Michael Hastings, and I hereby thank him for his service to our nation. May he R.I.P.
~:~
