(Photo Credit: Citizen Four film, available for purchase at Amazon)

Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who leaked information about the NSA’s “PRISM” surveillance program, has his Sun in Gemini (communication) and his Moon in Scorpio (secrets). (Chart) As explained in a previous article, both Gemini and Scorpio “are associated with spy-craft, smuggling, and special operations albeit in very different ways.” Gemini is the information broker who traffics in flash drives, Scorpio is the power broker who traffics in secrets. Gemini is the system-admin op who knows where the phone lines are buried, Scorpio is the deep cover cop who knows where the bodies are buried. The Gemini/Scorpio pairing thus makes for a great investigative reporter who uses their mental dexterity to unravel high level criminality, a cunning double agent who plays multiple sides of a complex conflict, or a fiction writer whose spell-binding stories leave you mentally (Gemini) horror-struck yet also intrigued (Scorpio) and loving every minute of it. Snowden has mentally horror-struck the NSA and, while the agency is probably not loving him for it, most of us in the 99% sure appreciate what he’s done. He’s expertly played multiple sides of a very complex situation and lived not only to tell his story but even be portrayed by Joseph Levit Gordon in Oliver Stone’s blockbuster film Snowden:

Astrologer Raven Kaldera calls Gemini/Scorpio the Sun/Moon pairing of “The Cloaked One” who “understands brutality and horror . . . who must go down to the darkness and wrestle demons to the ground”. (Source) During his time amid the darkness of the NSA, Snowden came to understand the brutality and horror of the surveillance state. In Citizen Four there is even a scene where he literally cloaks himself so as to avoid any electronic demons that may have infiltrated his hotel room.

Astrologers Suzi and Charles Harvey write of the Gemini/Scorpio pairing, “Your life seems to be a breeze until you start noticing the monsters from the deep coming up for air”. (Source) Snowden’s life certainly seems to have been a breeze until very recently. Back in March 2013, he was living with his acrobatic dancer girlfriend on the breezy island of Hawaii earning six figures working for NSA contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. (Source) Then he decided to take on the NSA, the ultimate “monster from the deep”, and is now a high profile enemy of the state hiding in Hong Kong and attempting to come up for air in Moscow.

According to astrologer Stella Hyde, Gemini is the sign of the “Street Magician” while Scorpio Moons are nourished by highly dangerous jobs such as “Vampire Slayer”. (Source) Snowden’s unprecedented exfiltration of data from the NSA is, in effect, the technological equivalent of a massive street magic trick, one that has served to thoroughly slay the public’s confidence in the vampire that is the surveillance state.

If, as per James Bamford’s books on the history of the NSA, the NSA’s Scorpio/Gemini Sun-Moon pairing can be likened to a “Puzzle Palace” or a “Shadow Factory” then the Gemini/Scorpio pairing can be likened to “a riddle wrapped in mystery inside an enigma” to quote Winston Churchill. Gemini is duality while Scorpio is secrecy so anytime you see these two signs paired together there is a high likelihood that multiple (Gemini) layers of concealment (Scorpio) are afoot. This is because each sign’s ruling planet excels at disguising itself. Gemini is ruled by Mercury, the fast moving planet of mixed messages and multiple personalities. Scorpio is ruled by Pluto, the deep digging Lord of Hades whose cap of invisibility allows him to operate undetected. At its best the combination of duplicity (Gemini Sun) and depth perception (Scorpio Moon) makes for a person who can get to the bottom of mind-dizzying complex situations. It can also indicate somebody who finds themselves living in circumstances that require extremely quick movements (Gemini) within bottomless pits (Scorpio), like something out of one of those old Choose Your Own Adventure children’s books except with decidedly more malevolent plot-lines.

People with the same Sun/Moon pairings often have biographies that share uncannily similar themes. To illustrate: author George Orwell is a Gemini Sun, Scorpio Moon just like Ed Snowden. Orwell is best known for writing 1984, the book which famously envisioned a dystopic future characterized by a ubiquitous surveillance state, a future that Snowden’s leaks have made clear is now a reality.

Mars Conjunct the North Node: Medals for Bravery

Snowden’s Mars (planet of fighting) is conjunct (merged) with his North Node (point of destiny), an aspect that astrologer Celeste Teal associates with “being awarded medals for bravery.” (Source) His Mars/North Node conjunction is in Gemini so the bravery indicated by this aspect was likely to involve Geminian matters such as communication, computer disks, and data-sharing. This Mars receives a trine (supportive contact) from a Saturn–Pluto conjunction in Libra, the sign of justice, in his 5th house of self-expression; this aspect is associated with “battling the powers that be,” according to astrologer Adrian Ross Duncan. Snowden is unlikely to win any medals of bravery from the government for his efforts, but no reasonable person doubts the enormous courage it takes to battle with the powers-that-be running the NSA.

As for what lies ahead for Snowden, with his North Node in Gemini he’ll need to tap into the fast-moving, quick-thinking nature of the Twins to the maximum of his ability if he wants to stay out of the catacombs of the U.S. justice system. As he knows all too well, these days the hills really do have eyes.

About the Author: Matthew David Savinar is a California licensed attorney (State Bar #228957), voluntarily inactive as of June 2013. He can be reached for questions, comments, or astrological consults via Twitter, his first YouTube channel, his second YouTube channel, SoundCloud, LibSyn or this site’s contact page.

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