The Demon Star and Gemma Galgani
Algol's placement on Gemma's Natal Chart, Stigmata, and Death
This post is sparked by a discussion with other astrologers about Algol. I have never studied the fixed stars before. This is my first investigation of them.
Algol is known as “The Demon Star.” So, I immediately wanted to know whether the Demon Star influenced a girl who’s every waking and sleeping moment was plagued by demons. And, of course, the star is infamous as an omen of violence and early death. Really starting to sound like Gemma’s life. So, where is it on her chart?
Huh…..Squeezed between Mars and Pluto, only a degree off of each. Now, keep in mind, many tradstrologers only want perfect conjunctions for fixed stars and they don’t think things we can’t see influences us, so they don’t count Pluto on a chart. But, I think a girl bleeding out of every pore in her body, and getting ragdolled by demons on a nightly basis probably has some serious Algol action going on in her life. Mars is 1’08 degrees off Algol. And Pluto is 0’41 degrees off. Certainly close enough.
Bernadette Brady wrote of Algol:
If this is accurate, it’s a strong indicator that I am correct that Gemma conquered unusually strong passions in herself. On Gemma’s natal chart, we have Algol conjunct Mars and Pluto. Both planets are known to govern sexual energies, depending on placement. And Algol conjunct a personal planet (such as Mars), is considered especially strong for perverse and taboo sexual matters. For Gemma, her sexual energy would be “repressed” as she was a consecrated virgin. However, she was not an angry nor violent person. She kept all her passions under control. I read this Algol placement, under Brady’s interpretation, as bringing severe sexual energy into her life, that Gemma was fighting every moment of her life. We know that Gemma went as far as to consecrate her eyes such that she would never look up from the ground. She had to be told to look at someone for her to do so (under her virtue of obedience). She also once almost inadvertently killed herself when she jumped into freezing water to flee a physical demonic apparition in an “impure form.” “Impure form” is a euphemism for the demon appearing in such a way as to tempt Gemma to lust. She promptly ran away and jumped into a freezing tank of water, and almost died save for an angelic hand pulling her out of the water.
She never looked at herself in the mirror (not even to wipe away the blood from her face from the stigmata or bleeding from her eyeballs). She never allowed anyone to touch her. She was hardcore about not going anywhere within twenty miles of a temptation of the flesh. I think Algol’s placement is a good reason why. Gemma once asked God to stop the demons from tempting her against purity, saying they were the worst temptations for her. And God did remove the temptations from her, for a time. I think we now know why she felt these temptations were the “worst.” Not because she thought they were gross, but because she was in real danger of giving in to the temptations. She could only stop herself from doing so by taking such extreme measures.
The Pluto conjunct is difficult to interpret. Pluto is always a wild card and unknown. I see Pluto as bringing demons and abnormal and strange to the Algol/Mars conjunct. This is the planet bringing the paranormal element to her life.
Pluto conjunct Algol is what makes things wild and bizarre. It brings out the worst in Algol. But, not just the worst, also bizarre manifestations. This is the aspect that has had the most defining mark on Gemma’s life. Strange diseases, family death, demonic torture…
Combine Pluto’s bizzarness with Mars violence, you got a recipe for a demonic horror film of a life. A star manifests its energy through the planet it is conjunct with. So, more than anything else that Algol brings, Algol is going to be giving Gemma violence in a bizarre, supernatural fashion. This star placement is the biggest answer to Gemma’s bloody life.