The Ethics of Astrological Analysis of Death and Dying

That was kinda cringe, let’s talk about it…

Speaking of the Dead

In the early hours of November 1st rapper Takeoff, of Migos fame, was tragically killed in a shooting. Within 3 hours of his death a tarot reader/astrologer took to social media to wax poetic (incorrectly) about the astrology of his death and it’s potential fated-ness. I watched people I know engaging with the post via likes and reshares. As well as a sizable backlash against said post across multiple platforms.

There is no regulated “rule book” for being an astrologer and many times we are making up things as we go. Allowing our personal ethics and relationship to professionalism shape our practices. I would say this can fare well and many times it does not. There are astrological associations, other “governing bodies,” teachers, and elders that SOME may have. So while these microcosms within astrology have rules and thus ethical codes, a majority of people who practice are not part of them. When things like this happen I think it requires us to draw very clear lines in the sand around what is and isn’t appropriate. In this instance I will say this was in poor taste and deemed it incredibly inappropriate as did many of my peers.

Moreover, it reminded me of my own participation in something pretty similar a few years ago. Within days after the murder of George Floyd, a pair of astrologers went live to talk about the astrology of slavery and Floyd’s death. I reposted the video under the assumption that it was informative and likely helpful in some way as it was full of “accurate” insights. However, I quickly saw that it wasn’t appropriate as people expressed their discontent with this type of posting in the middle of public rage and mourning of another state-sanctioned murder of a Black person. While we may take interest in rationalizing via astrology that wasn’t something to express publicly so close to someone’s death and in the middle of widespread grief. It was inappropriate, insensitive and it was harmful. It wasn’t the point of that moment.

This isn’t about calling out or casting judgment on this person or those astrologers. We all make mistakes and cause harm. And it’s important to rectify those things, which I hope this person does. Many people also defended this person and generally speaking I believe they were missing the point. In my eyes, there also isn’t anything inherently wrong about being curious about what happens astrologically when someone loses their life. There are a vast number of ways people personally respond to death and grieve. And this is not to say astrologers cannot be helpful when people navigate grief and tragedy. I absolutely believe there is a lot of information that we can share to help people navigate grief, difficult emotions, and tragedy. And those things are worth exploring rather than rushing to have an astrological hot take, especially when someone’s life is taken violently. 

Dealing with Death in Astrological Counseling and Guidance

Death is a fate that no one can escape, it is part of the human condition. And like all other human experiences, it can be calculated, described, and analyzed in the birth chart. Unfortunately, not all death is because of old age and not all people leave the Earth plane peacefully. This, alongside the sensitive nature of death in general is why it requires us to be more intentional about how, when, and why we discuss it.

There are numbers of astrological techniques that can predict and calculate death. And these are things we shouldn’t share publicly because it is not responsible to do so in most circumstances. It is okay for parts of astrology to remain secret or gatekept, not out of distrust but out of sacredness and to protect the well being of all. Despite this, I’ve seen inaccurate and flippant TikToks and tweets proclaiming to have overly simplistic secrets to uncovering information about your death in the birth chart. It is not as simple as a single transit or as the sign on the cusp of one’s 8th house.

When we talk publicly about certain aspects or transits and conflate them with dying without nuance we can create unnecessary fear and concern in clients and on-lookers who may think a specific astrological event causes death. While there will always be those who catastrophize, and we cannot anticipate the reach or interpretation of what we say, we can be extra careful when discussing more sensitive topics like death, illness, etc. It is an issue of being disrespectful, but also of spreading misinformation and oversimplification of something that requires immense study and personal integrity to be navigated with both accuracy and with care. 

And again, this isn’t to say there aren’t circumstances where I have worked with colleagues to “astrologize” about death. But most of these things are in private and with students and practitioners who know what they’re talking about and what they’re doing, or at the minimum have the humility to say when they don’t.

Using decades old celebrity deaths or ancestors whose permission we have to learn about and explore different techniques is very different than describing why someone who just passed has died with astrological reasoning on a public forum. But again, this is information explored in study and not practiced openly unless under specific circumstances. 

Here are couple of different examples from colleagues that I wanted to share, as well as other possible ways to explore topics of death and other difficult subjects that consulting astrologers can use or clients can seek: 

• Colleague had a dying family member and we pulled an horary for them to determine if their anticipated time window for visiting them would be before their passing.

• Was concerned about an elderly YouTube tarot reader being very ill and not returning to the platform for over a year, so had a horary question about their health and potential recovery. 

• Providing consulted astrological guidance to members of a marginalized group experiencing an ongoing crisis. The point here being that someone asked under specific circumstances for astrological guidance.

• From Carol-Anne: “I think [C]hani [Nicholas] did that with Alex [T]rebec and bell hooks. After they passed she talked about their charts and their legacy which is a way of honoring. It’s holding space for a loss.”

• From Majd: “I shared Shireen Abu Akleh's chart when she was killed to affirm her work as a messenger and warrior of truth, not to analyze ‘why astrologically she was killed.’ I reflected on that in private but that feels insensitive to share. Even as family. Shireen truly felt like family to all of us and she was my neighbor. We know that she was killed and that's all that matters not ‘the astrology of death’ in that moment.” 

• Death charts to help determine how people would like to be remembered. I would caution against this immediately after someone’s death. Or as discussed earlier, discussing the legacy of someone via their birth chart which I think can be appropriate at any time. 

• Horaries to decipher how we can support those who recently lost someone or explore our relationship to death or grieving at a given moment .

• Talking about the 8th house and how we deal with grief based on our charts.

• Holding grief containers or other offerings during times of communal mourning

I believe all of the things outlined above are respectful, and also serve as ways to openly talk about death when many of us struggle with death and grief by nature of our socialization and the constant violence many communities are subject to at the hands of oppressive systems. Any healer or mantic practitioner should be to uphold the well-being of their community above all else. This requires us to think critically about our why and how when approaching sensitive subjects with the intention of providing guidance.

Final Thoughts

Outside of astrology, “channeling” the spirit of the recently killed or deceased is unethical via mediumship, tarot readings, or other mantic arts. Especially without permission or when we hold no personal connection to said person. And I’m sure there are many other rules and expectations across many practices that outline what is and is not appropriate. And it’s important to familiarize oneself with these before engaging in them. It is not lost on me that this wisdom is usually passed on by elders or teachers. And that the lack of elders and teachers in most modern mantic practices definitely manifests in the varying ethics of practitioners. It’s also important to name that being part of an astrological association or studying under a teacher with best practices as a professional astrologer can be expensive and that many options are not diverse (at a minimum) thus inaccessible to many. Here is a great article by Diana Rose Harper about practicing astrology ethically. It features a number of astrologers I enjoy and respect, as well as insight from my teacher, Sam Reynolds.

This is not to shame or publicly berate this individual. I speak not from a pedestal or to virtue signal but from personal experience of participating in something (even passively) that was cringe at best and dehumanizing at worst. It’s important to talk openly about an issue that is bound to come up again and that we all bare the responsibility of dealing with as practitioners and lovers of astrology. And hopefully this provides some insight around where many astrologers, more so my self, stand on practicing astrology ethically and to offer ways to remediate this in the future. 

I am interested in other people’s thoughts! So feel free to comment below or DM me. Please be respectful when engaging with the comments of myself and others. My block hand is heavy. ;)