Josef Fritzl

The story by Wikipedia:

The Fritzl case emerged in April 2008 when a 42-year-old woman, Elisabeth Fritzl, stated to police in the town of Amstetten in Austria that she had been held captive for 24 years in a concealed part of the basement of the family home by her father, Josef Fritzl, and that he had physically assaulted, sexually abused, and raped her numerous times during her imprisonment. The incestuous relationship forced upon her by her father had resulted in the birth of seven children and one miscarriage.

Three of the children had been imprisoned along with their mother for the whole of their lives: daughter Kerstin, aged 19, and sons Stefan, 18, and Felix, 5. One child, named Michael, had died of respiratory problems three days after birth, deprived of all medical help; his body was allegedly incinerated by Josef Fritzl on his property. The three other children were raised by Fritzl and his wife Rosemarie in the upstairs home. Fritzl had engineered the appearance of these children as foundlings discovered outside his house: Lisa at nine months in 1993, Monika at ten months in 1994, and Alexander at 15 months in 1997.

When the eldest daughter, Kerstin, became seriously ill, Josef acceded to Elisabeth’s pleas to take her to a hospital, triggering a series of events that eventually led to discovery. Josef Fritzl was arrested on 26 April 2008, aged 73, on suspicion of serious crimes against family members and went on trial in Sankt Pölten, Austria on 16 March 2009. He initially pleaded guilty to four of the six charges he faces, namely incest, rape, coercion and false imprisonment, but denied the other two charges of murder of the infant Michael and enslavement. On the third day of the trial, he pleaded guilty to all six charges.

This is a severe case of sexual abuse for the whole of his family, the abuse may have been endured much longer if one of his daughter’s hadn’t fallen unconscious, and needed immediate medical help due to a life threatening kidney condition. I have the Natal chart of Josef and the date for the day Elisabeth’s eldest daughter fell ill, when all the family secrets began to emerge.

 

 

What is striking about the chart in relation to the abuse, is Pluto in Cancer at the apex of a T-square involving Fritzl’s natal Sun in Aries and Mars retrograde in Libra. When looking at a case for abuse or anything considered taboo and hidden in society, we look to the planet Pluto. Sun and Mars in astrology are two parts of the male psyche, in Fritzl’s chart with Pluto squaring his Sun and Mars we see issues of power, domination, control, and manipulation. The T-square configuration represents extreme and challenging elements in the personality, squares and oppositions in natal charts indicate splits in the personality. The most challenging points of any chart can be the area of our greatest growth and evolution, or potential downfall through unintegrated energies.

Fritzl does have a violent configuration in his birth chart of a cardinal t, square consisting of issues dealing with aggression, and individuality, Vs co-operation in relationships. Sun-Mars can describe an aggressive personality. The Sun-Mars opposition suggests he misuses his aggressive energy, Fritzl’s desires are connected to his ego. The Arian personality challenged by Mars indicates that there is little integration with compromise in relationships. His own will can predominate and this shows through repeatedly having intercourse with his own daughter against her will. This aspect can suggest someone who is blinded to the feelings and needs of others; he generally gets what he wants. Sun and Mars challenged by Pluto in Cancer, showing the domination in the family.

Family Background

 Reflecting on his childhood, Fritzl initially described his mother as “the best woman in the world” and “as strict as it was necessary”. Later he expressed a negative opinion of his mother and claimed that “she used to beat me, hit me until I was lying in a pool of blood on the floor. It left me feeling totally humiliated and weak. My mother was a servant and she used to work hard all her life, I never had a kiss from her, I was never cuddled although I wanted it – I wanted that she would be good to me.” He later also admitted that he had locked his mother in her room without sunlight.

In a report by forensic psychiatrist Adelheid Kastner, Fritzl’s mother is described as unpredictable and abusive. Fritzl referred to himself as an alibi child, meaning that his mother only gave birth to him to prove that she was not barren and could produce children. Fritzl claims that his pathological behaviour is innate. He admits that he planned to lock his daughter up during his prison stint for the earlier rape conviction so that he could contain and express his “evil side”. He said, “I was born to rape, and I held myself back for a relatively long time. I could have behaved a lot worse than locking up my daughter”. The forensic psychiatrist diagnosed Fritzl as having severe combined personality disorder and a sexual disorder and recommended that Fritzl receive psychiatric care for the rest of his life.

Fritzl had grown up as a single child without a father figure. The father left the family when Fritz was four, and he has experienced a history of violence through his own family, without a birth time I can’t see how the family houses are activated in his chart particularly for the water houses, and the parental axis I.C/M.C. We can see his nodal axis is tied up with the difficult T-square, so this may suggest he has had strong desires and dominating abusive behaviour stemming right back into his past, Pluto issues and South Node in Cancer describe the embedded powerful family issues rooted in his personality. He can have a powerful temper underneath, he may repress it at times (Mars retrograde in Libra) but he can violently explode. Pluto at the apex of the t, square describes the underworld of the psyche; it contains all hidden desires and destructive behaviours. There is a huge amount of inner turmoil within him; he exploits those weaker than him. Mars in difficult aspect to Pluto can indicate ruthless behaviour, and in less evolved personalities it can result in extreme cases of aggressive and violent behaviour. Traditional text books, state that Mars-Pluto aspects can manifest violently through sexual abuse and rape, especially if he has repressed his massive desire nature.

Regarding his treatment of the family he had with his wife, he stated, “I am not the beast the media make me to be; Regarding his treatment of Elisabeth and her children in the cellar, he explained that he brought flowers for Elisabeth and books and toys for the children into the bunker, as he called it, and often watched videos with the children and ate meals with Elisabeth and the children. Fritzl decided to imprison Elisabeth after she did not adhere to any rules any more; when she became a teenager. That is why I had to do something; I had to create a place where I could keep Elisabeth, by force if necessary, away from the outside world; He suggested that the emphasis on discipline in the Nazi era, during which he grew up, might have influenced his views about decency and good behaviour. The chief editors of News Magazine noted in their editorial that they expected Fritzl’s statement to form the basis of the defence strategy of his lawyer. Critics have said his statement may be a ploy to prepare an insanity defence.

 Hush Hush

Mercury in Aries trines Pluto, this is considered a benign aspect in the natal chart. I think the Mercury-Pluto aspect in trine enabled him on some level to keep his secrets; there wasn’t any real tension between these two planets, as there would be with the Mercury-Pluto square. Trines are considered gifts and abilities in the natal chart. Mercury-Pluto gives him the ability to understand the psychology of others with ease. However, what is interesting to note with his chart is how the secrets started to emerge during transiting Pluto entering Capricorn and in exact square to his natal Mercury in Aries (Mercury square Pluto). The time had come for all the terrible abuse being hidden in the family home to come out and be exposed. The authorities got involved under this transit and he lost all control, the dirty secrets which had been covered up for years had finally come to light. The rest of his life will now be spent in prison and psychotherapy. Another interesting factor in his chart for the time the abuse was being discovered was transiting Chiron and Neptune forming a fixed T-square to his natal Venus/Jupiter opposition, this is when Elisabeth’s elder daughter fell ill. Venus rules the feminine, partners, sisters, daughters and the kidney’s in astrology. Chiron’s influence is the wounded/healer in the natal chart. Neptune also rules illness anything which can weaken the body. I am not definite on this influence but it appears to be significant for the younger girl’s illness.

The family have been severely traumatised, it will be a long process towards healing but they are now free from his control.