Gianni Versace: Cunanan’s Last Murder Victim

Zip Dobyns

I gave the birth date and place for Versace in the Virgo 1997 issue of The Mutable Dilemma, but commented that the birth time suggested by someone in Europe looked unlikely. His recorded birth time has now been received from Italy, thanks to Lois Rodden. He was born on December 2, 1946 at 6 A.M. in Reggio di Calabria, Italy, 38 N 6, 15 E 39. His UT is one hour earlier. Cunanan shot him at 8:44 A.M. EDT on July 15, 1997 in Miami, Florida. After hiding for a week, Cunanan committed suicide on July 23, 1997.

The accurate birth time provides progressed aspects which fit a violent death. In the natal chart of Versace, we see the potential for great creativity with his Sagittarian stellium in his first house. The importance of relationships in his life is indicated by Juno rising in Scorpio, though a lesson is suggested with the south lunar node in the first house and closely conjunct the East Point for additional emphasis. His Pisces Moon on the IC and his Scorpio, including three of the Scorpio planets in the Pisces house, support the intuitive talent which can facilitate an artistic career. Power issues are present, regardless of birth time, with Saturn and Pluto in Leo and Ceres in Aquarius forming a T-square to the planets in the middle of Scorpio.

The 6 A.M. birth time puts Versace’s natal Moon closely square the Sun and lunar nodes and on the Arabic Part of Death, which was 12 Pisces 16 using Placidus cusps. The MC was exactly square the natal Sun, to complete a grand cross in mutable signs and cardinal houses. Psyche in 12 Virgo was also closely involved in the configuration. As I have written before, a positive expression of Psyche can include psychic ability and psychological interests which may be used to help people. On the other side, Psyche can be prominent in victims who need help, and we can attract victims as occurred in this case.

When Versace was murdered, his P Moon, P East Point, and P Mars were in late Capricorn octile or trioctile the mutable cross just described. Versace also had his P Miami Ascendant in 27 Libra 31 where it was square P Mars and P East Point, and octile/trioctile the natal East Point, lunar nodes, Moon and Psyche. On the day he was shot, his Quotidian (Q) Miami East Point was in 9 Gemini and his birth place Q East point was in 12 Virgo. The Quotidian angles circle the chart in a year so they move approximately one degree a day. The Q MC opposed P Juno and P south node of Mars from 15 Gemini, and P Fama in 16 Gemini was also in orb. Versace’s Miami Q MC in 6 Pisces squared his natal MC in 7 Gemini, was conjunct P Damocles, and quincunx P Saturn. P Vesta was quincunx his Miami Ascendant in 7 Virgo, while his Miami P 8th house cusp opposed his natal Ascendant.

From time to time, we mention some of the other ways in which astrology gives us repeated themes, including the planetary nodes and midpoints. Issues involving personal power, sensuality, money, etc., were repeated by the natal south node of Mars exactly on the natal Ascendant of Versace, while the P node of Mars in 15 Sagittarius was on Juno, a Plutonian asteroid. P north node of Mars was in 10 Aries opposite Neptune and the midpoint of Saturn/south lunar node, and it was square Libitina and Saturn/north lunar node. P Sun was on P Libitina, the Roman goddess of death. Another death goddess, P Hela, was octile P Pluto while P Hel had just started an opposition to Hephaistos, the smith who made the weapons of Olympus. It lacked one minute of forming a quincunx to Philippina. Since both Philippa and Philippina in 29 Pisces were semisextile Hephaistos in 29 Aquarius, the asteroids were connected into a network of separative aspects. The asteroids with the root name “Philip” are relevant since Cunanan’s personal names were Andrew Philip. Natal Andree, the French version of Andrew, was in 12 Sagittarius in the massive mutable cross, and P Andree just under 3 Capricorn was conjunct Versace’s Miami P Antivertex, and octile his Venus and P birthplace Antivertex, and trioctile his P 8th house cusp.

There is always more that could be added, but I will stop with Anubis, Winchester, and the Arabic Parts of Death. Versace’s P Ascendant opposed natal Anubis. P Anubis was retrograding on the natal 8th house cusp quincunx the natal Ascendant and square P Hephaistos. Natal Winchester, the asteroid of guns, was in 29 Sagittarius square both Philippa and Philippina, while P Winchester in 16 Capricorn was octile Damocles, quincunx P Fama, and had just ended a trioctile to P Hel. Aspects to other factors connected it to the network. Q MC reached P Fama and the quincunx to P Winchester sometime during the morning that Versace was shot. P Miami Part of Death on P Ceres opposed N Hel, P birthplace Part of Death opposed N Antivertex and squared P Neptune.

We will only look briefly at the chart for the murder, which gives us the transits at the time. The most dramatic feature is the presence of Venus on the Ascendant and Jupiter on the Descendant. You do not have to work with astrology very long to discover that nothing in it is guaranteed “good” or “bad.” As additional evidence that “good” aspects do not guarantee pleasant events, Saturn trines the Ascendant and Venus within one degree. Of course, there are also conflict aspects. The Moon squares Ascendant-Venus-Jupiter. Saturn and Vesta are in a wide conjunction which can be a sign of ruthless tunnel-vision, and they form a cardinal cross with Sun-Juno in Cancer, Chiron in Libra, and Pallas-Neptune in Capricorn. Conflict aspects involving both cardinal and fixed sides of life typify issues around power, usually power struggles. Uranus is widely opposite Mercury and the East Point while Mars is widely octile the Moon.

We get more exact aspects when we include the new asteroids. Limiting to the one-degree orb I use for the extra asteroids, Libitina in 17 Aquarius was square the MC. Andree in 27 Taurus was conjunct Guernica, a key to innocent victims, trioctile Mars, and square Hela in 26 Leo. Winchester in 28 Libra was octile-trioctile an opposition of Nemesis and Ceres and square both Neptune and Siva. Hel in 5 Gemini was octile Saturn. The Sun was on Hephaistos and the north node of Saturn and opposite Saturn’s south node. The midpoints of Saturn and the lunar nodes, which I consider major lesson points, were octile-trioctile the Venus-Jupiter opposition. The MC was on Aeternitas (immortality) and Biela (a comet whose fragments may have caused the great Chicago fire and the simultaneous fires which devastated much of Wisconsin and Michigan in the 1800s), and it was octile Philippa. Psyche opposed Philippina, was octile Dresden (like Guernica, deaths of innocent victims), and quincunx Libitina. Interested readers can spot the aspects in this event chart and to Versace’s natal chart for themselves.

Copyright © 1997 Los Angeles Community Church of Religious Science, Inc.

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