The Astrology Of Josef Fritzl – Making Sense Of the “Dungeon Dad”

Have you heard this story yet?! In Austria, Josef Fritzl (4/9/1935) kept his daughter in his basement dungeon as a sex slave for 24 years and had 7 children with her!!! (Yeah, but other than that, I hear he’s a pretty nice guy…)

This story is unbelievably Plutonian, so for this article, we’ll visit hell for a bit. As I write, the Moon is conjunct Pluto, so the mood is right. Next time, I promise something much more fun. For now, let’s get into the elevator and select the bottom floor. Please choose a nice pitchfork and try to avoid the flames…

Though he says he’s not a monster, others may have a different opinion. Let’s look at his chart, shall we?

First, let me offer that the Lunar Nodes point to the central spiritual lessons an evolving soul is addressing. To simplify: The South Node suggests what the soul needs to resolve, while the North indicates new areas for growth. Ready for this?

Frizl has the South Node in Cancer conjunct Pluto and Ceres. Cancer goes with family, while Pluto goes with darkness and depravity, the proverbial hell. Ceres is where this gets interesting. Ceres is Demeter, mother of Persephone. Persephone was abducted by Pluto and taken to the Underworld to be his wife. I’m not making this up! This guy’s karma is precisely the mythic story, played out with family (Cancer). He said, “I was born to rape.”

I would say, he was born to resolve horrendous karma. Without some movement to heal, then sure, raping is quite probable. Though some may disagree, I don’t believe some souls are inherently evil. All of us have Pluto in our charts! We’re all learning to integrate with the dark — some people just have more serious work with it than others.

Whether this guy was a victim or perpetrator in past life scenarios is beside the point. He was involved in unspeakable situations and arrived on this planet to learn how to grow out if it — repeating the karma as the “Dungeon Dad” is just not a very evolved response! Remember, there are plenty of others who have similar charts and they’re not behaving like this.

And yes, his chart does point toward how he can grow. The North Node is in Capricorn, which suggests maturation, accountability and learning to behave with integrity. Saturn (North Node ruler) is in Pisces as well as opposed Neptune (in Virgo). This is a double statement about the need to heal, find compassion for self/others and to grieve, grieve, grieve…

Without this emotional processing, then Neptune/Pisces takes on other dimensions. With its associated 12th House, this astrological theme is about removal, even incarceration, if cleansing or resolution is not performed. Ending up in the slammer could provide the necessary time to reflect, process, and reach some degree of consciousness about his soul condition. Since he did plea guilty, looks like Mr. Fritzl is going to have plenty of time for this.

I was unable to find the birth information for his daughter, Elisabeth, though news stories list her as 42. The planet Uranus pertains to freedom, new beginnings and living life on one’s own terms. It has an 84-year orbit, so at age 42 is the Uranus opposition. Elisabeth was freed right at this critical turning point in her life. Often people see the unfolding of one’s life in terms of before/after the mid-life life review (sometimes a crises, yes) that occurs at the Uranus opposition. For Elisabeth, this passage is quite dramatic, and certainly liberating.

It’s difficult to uphold the “goodness of humanity” when we hear stories like this. Making sense of madness has befuddled psychologists for eons. I do think astrology can provide the spiritual framework to understand wounded souls. Some may want to demonize Fritzl and burn him at a stake, but that may perpetuate the horror.

Another approach is to have compassion, for we all have Pluto in our birth charts — all of us have been touched by darkness to some degree. Compassion does not mean everyone gets out of jail free, for that is where he certainly belongs. Compassion is simply caring for spiritual development, and that is what we can hold for everyone, including this “monster”.

Last updated on May 28, 2017 at 1:42 pm. Word Count: 708