Revisiting the Mayerling Incident

The Mayerling Incident is the name given to a series of events surrounding the alleged suicide pact of 30-year-old Rudolf, the Crown Prince of Austria, and his 18-year-old lover, baroness Mary Vetsera, who were found dead on 30 January 1889 in an imperial hunting lodge in Mayerling. That lodge today is apparently a carmelite monastery.

According to official sources, namely, the Wiener Zeitung of 22 August 1858, page 1: “Amtlicher Theil. Ihre Majestät die Kaiserin sind gestern den 21. August um 10 Uhr 15 Minuten Abends zu Laxenburg glücklich von einem Kronprinzen entbunden worden.”  (Official Section: Her Majesty the Empress was happily delivered of a Crown Prince yesterday, August 21, [1858] at 10:15 p.m. in Laxenburg.”)

Laxenburg is a market town in the Central Bavarian district of Mödling, in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. According to Google Maps, the GPS coordinates of the hunting lodge in Larenburg, Austria are about 48.066 N and 16.359 E. The birth chart here was calculated with Solar Fire software.

Birth Chart of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria

Assuming the official birth data is correct, Crown Prince Rudolf has late Taurus rising, as he was born as the cusp of the 1st house was about the change from Taurus (ruled by Venus) to Aries (ruled by Mars). If he were born just a bit later than the official time, he would have Aries rising.

Are there astrological indications of a potential suicidal death? Suicide is often associated with the 12th house (exile, self-undoing, misfortune). In this chart with its Placidus cusps, Mars rules the 12th and Pluto resides therein. Mars occupies fiery Sagittarius and opposes the natal Ascendant (the body and life force of the native) from the 7th house (intimate partners) near the western horizon. Mars in the 7th also opposes Uranus which sits just inside the 1st house, conjunct the Ascendant, which can symbolize sudden or unexpected violence affecting the native’s physical well-being. With Mars ruling the 12th, such violence can be self-directed and may involve a partner.

The Mars-Uranus opposition lies in square to the Moon’s nodes and the Sun, which occupy the 5th house (love affairs), with the Sun ruling the 5th cusp. The square of the 5th house Sun to the 7th house Mars connects the sudden or unexpected violent action to his love life.

Jupiter, ruler of the 8th of death, is in his detriment in Gemini in the 1st house and is loosely connected to Mars by a whole-sign opposition aspect.

Jupiter, ruler of the 8th (death) in the 1st, is also square to the Mercury-Neptune opposition, with Mercury in Virgo occupying the 5th of love affairs, suggesting confused or irrational thinking involving a lover. With Gemini occupying most of the first Placidus house, Mercury co-rules the 1st house (the native’s physical health and well-being).

The violent death of the two lovers occurred on 30 January 1889 when Rudolf (born 21 August) was 30 years and 5 months old (roughly 30.4 years old).

This chart is also striking for its mundane aspects. Uranus, conjunct the Ascendant, opposes Mars, conjunct the Descendant, and this opposition is closely aspected by Saturn, conjunct the IC (end of life) — a mundane T-square involing both traditional malefics and the modern planet Uranus. Here what the chart would like like at 10:28 pm, not longer after his birth:

If we look as the ancient method of “distribution” or “cicumambulation” we see that Mars was the divisor and the Sun was its partner during the period of Rudolf’s demise:

In January 1889, the directed Asc was in the MARS term (bound) of Cancer, the sign of its FALL. The Sun was the participant with Mars, through Sun sextile directed Asc at the end of Gemini.

His profected Taurus-rising birth chart would have a profected Asc of Scorpio at age 30, with Mars as Lord of the Year, thus activating the natal 6th house and the natal Mars-Uranus opposition and natal Mars-Asc opposition, which could symbolize a sudden, unexpected threat to his life. The Lord of the Orb during this profection year is the Sun (his natal hour lord is Jupiter) which rules the 4th cusp (end of life matters) and conjoins the 5th house cusp (romantic affairs).

The Prince’s Solar Return for this period has Leo rising and is ruled by the Sun, which tightly squares SR Jupiter in Scorpio, with SR Jupiter ruling the solar return’s 8th house of death and occupying the SR 4th house of endings, also occupied by SR Mars which squares SR Saturn in the 12th (misfortune).

Also, SR Jupiter squares SR Mercury in the SR 1st house, which conjoins the natal 5th house cusp (love affairs). In addition SR Jupiter, lord of the SR 8th of death, closely opposes the natal Ascendant.

The SR Moon rules the SR 12th of self-undoing and conjoins the Dsc, tightly opposing the SR Asc.

Crown Prince’s Solar Return for the year of his demise.

Finally, let’s look at the primary directions active in January 1889. These were calculated in Solar Fire, Placidus semi-arc, no latitude, Naibod key.

Crown Prince Rudolf’s primary directions around the time of his passing

On the morning of 30 January 1889, Rudolf and his lover Mary were found shot dead in the hunting lodge at Mayerling. The Royal Family apparently covered up the double suicide so that their son could have a proper Roman Catholic funeral and burial. Suicide was considered a mortal sin by the church. In 1915, letters found in a safe deposit box revealed that Baroness Mary Vetsera had planned her suicide alongside Crown Prince Rudolf out of love.

The bodies were apparently found on the morning of 30 January 1889 in Mayerling. I don’t know the exact time. The next chart shows the 8 AM transits around the natal chart of the prince on the day of the incident.

Transits on the morning of the death of Rudolf and Mary, exact time unknown, so the transiting Asc, MC, and Moon may not be very accruate.

I leave it to the reader to see all the connections among the various predictive methods discussed here.