South African athlete and Olympic gold medalist, Caster Semanya, has been embroiled for some time in a legal battle with the governing body of athletics, the IAAF, over the nature of her gender. She is female, but was born with XY chromosomes, normally associated with being male, and has a high level of testosterone, which the authorities have concluded give her an unfair advantage over her competitors.
Caster has her natal Sun conjunct Neptune in her chart. The Sun describes one’s identity and core essence. Neptune is a symbol for a lack of clarity, confusion or blurred boundaries. This Sun-Neptune aspect in her chart describes perfectly this fundamental theme in her life – the essential question of what her gender is; who is she? Neptune describes the fact that there is no clear, black-and-white answer to this.
In 2018 the IAAF announced a new rule, which meant hyperandrogenous athletes must take medication to lower their testosterone levels. Semanya challenged this rule change.
Her legal hearing began on 18th February 2019. This happened on the exact day that she was having the first hit of transiting Saturn conjunct her natal Sun in Capricorn. Saturn in Capricorn is a symbol for the governing powers and authority of the IAAF. It indicates the structure of law. And a transit of Saturn to her Sun indicates the challenges and limitation to Semanya of this governing body.
On 1st May, right when Saturn turned retrograde, the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected her appeal. The restrictive forces of Saturn winning out, and forcing Semanya to abide by the limitation of the new rule (Saturn) if she wishes to continue competing.
Given the ruling, and that it comes under this heavy Saturn transit, it seems that the only choice she now has it either to take the medication (something that is symbolised by Neptune) or retire, which she hinted at on Twitter recently, before vowing to continue. The second hit of the transit is in July and the final one in November. So it’s likely that we will know which she decides during one of these transits.
Saturn always brings big changes into our lives, and often through a situation that we do not like but are unable to overcome; no matter how hard we try. Sometimes it is necessary to bow to the limitations inherent in this world of form, and allow it to shape our character for the better in the midst of apparent defeat.
Those who would dismiss astrology outright as hokum are naive to their own belief in a controlling entity they call myself, without ever having examined if it exists. Without self, (attributed to that subtle feeling in the head or chest that actually governs nothing) then why not astrology?