The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Bernard Kerik

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Bernard Kerik, the former NYPD Commissioner who was hailed as one of the heroes of the 9/11 attacks but ended up being disgraced and jailed for financial improprieties is currently making news again as he releases a new book "From Jailer to Jailed" which catalogues his spectacular downfall.

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.s ... emoir.html

From a traditional astrology standpoint, particularly Valens? methods, the unfolding of Kerik's natal chart and life events are an excellent demonstration of:

- Eminence
- Zodiacal releasing from Spirit to time a rise and fall in status
- The importance of ascensional times of the trigon lords of the sect light

According to Astrodatabank, Kerik has an 'B' rated time of 4 am, quoting his 2001 autobiography. http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Kerik,_Bernard_B.
I'm satisfied that the Ascendant and major lots are in the correct signs, so the time is approximately correct in my opinion (probably a bit earlier than 4am giving an Aries MC, but not so much that would move Spirit back from Pisces to Aquarius). It need not be exact for the general time lord methods described below.
Image
Briefly, a look at why the configurations in the chart matches life events:

Leo rising with Jupiter in the Ascendant matches descriptions of Kerik as having an oversized ego:
Kerik himself, whose robust ego knows few limits, was having trouble wrapping his mind around the concept [nominated to head the Deprtment of Homeland Security]...The onetime top cop with the colorful background and the outsize ego,....
Fortune in Capricorn/6th ruled by Saturn/Scorpio/4th matches a difficult childhood:
"Bernie" grew up in a tough neighborhood of Paterson, N.J., a suburb of New York City. His mother abandoned him when he was a boy, and he lived with friends and relatives until his father took custody of him. In his autobiography, Kerik says his mother was a prostitute who might have been killed by her pimp.
From 1974 to 1977, Kerik was in the military police and stationed in South Korea. While there, he got a local woman pregnant. Both of these events match Moon/Aries/9th - foreign military service and the relationship with a woman resulting in pregnancy because the Moon (general significator of women) applies to Jupiter, ruler of the 5th of Children. This was also during his Aries major Spirit period.

Saturn/Scorpio/4th (4th = the homeland) matches the terrorist attack which occured while Kerik was New York Police Commissioner. The tight Jupiter-Saturn square angular in Kerik's natal chart is a mundane configuration that links him to zeitgest of the times.

Kerik's rise was due to his "penchant for befriending powerful people" (most notably a New Jersey Sheriff who made him one of the youngest prison wardens in the country and later Rudy Giuliani who made him NYPD Commissioner) which matches Mercury/Libra ruling the 11th placed in the 10th from Fortune (more on this later).

Cancer is the 12th and incarceration / imprisonment (12th house signification) would play an important role in Kerik's life both as a "Jailer and Jailed" during Cancer Spirit periods (again, more on this later).

The Eminence of Bernard Kerik


For such a meteoric rise in life, there are normally prominent eminence indicators in the natal chart and there are:

- 2 of the 3 trigon lords of the sect light (Moon/Aries) are angular (1 - Jupiter [1st], 2 - [Sun/2nd], 3 - Saturn [4th]).

- Ruler of Exaltation (Mercury/Libra) is in 10th from Fortune

- Ruler of Spirit (Jupiter/Leo) is in 1st House (Valens refers to a plant in 1st as "marking the hour")

- Exaltation hands over to Basis and Basis hands over to Exaltation.

The positions of Jupiter and Mercury (rendered benefic in this figure) are the main reasons for Kerik's rise and advancement occurs when these two planets are major time lords, particularly Mercury.

However, there are challenges to the native's eminence:

- Spirit and Exaltation are in opposite signs
- Mars is strongly configured with both and is conjunct the Sun, general significator of fame and Asc ruler
- The sect light the Moon and 12th ruler is tightly opposed to Mercury
- The second Trigon lord, Sun/Virgo has fallen amiss and is afflicted.

Things will get more challenging for the native when the above configurations become active by time lord changeovers.

Zodiacal Releasing from Spirit (ZRS)

This chart unfolds very nicely using the ZRS approach.
Image
Starting with the Aries major, I've already referred to Kerik's military service abroad and relationship with a foreign woman and resulting pregnancy matching the significations of Moon/Aries/9th.

The Taurus major from 1982 - 1990 began initially with a foreign job as chief of investigations for a Saudi Arabian hospital until he was fired in mysterious circumstances and deported from the country in 1984. Ruler Venus/Virgo combust and with Mars signifies Illicit and hidden activities and the opposition of Taurus to Saturn/Scorpio is also a somewhat challenging configuration (mitigated to a extent by Saturn being in Kerik?s 11th sign from Fortune, but this particular placement is also noted for financial difficulties, especially as Saturn is the out-of-sect malefic). Thereafter, he held various law enforcement jobs, including as the youngest warden of a prison at the age of 30 when Cancer (12th sign ? incarceration) was L2 ZRS. After joining the NYPD in 1986, Kerik also served as an undercover drugs officer which also matches the signification of the combust Venus/Virgo with Mars.

The rise came during the Gemini major period ruled by Mercury/Libra in the 10th sign from Fortune which started in March 1990. Shortly thereafter, in September of the same year he was promoted to detective. However, his career really took off when he befriended Mayor Rudy Giuliani. This caused him to get promotions and lucrative appointments, first as deputy city corrections commissioner in 1995 and corrections commissioner in 1998 followed by Police Commissioner of the NYPD in 2000, despite concerns about his penchant for flouting the rules and lack of college degree (a requirement for senior NYPD officers). When 9/11 happened, he was considered a hero and darling of the media. He also had a brief stint as interim Iraqi Minister for the Interior after the 2003 invasion of that country.

Things also began to go wrong for Kerik late in this Gemini major ZRS period. In December 2004, he was nominated by President Bush to be the United States secretary of homeland security and the intense media scrutiny around his ?vetting? would ultimately land him in prison.

A Time Magazine profile catalogues his downfall from then on:
? Nominated by President Bush as the second Secretary of Homeland Security in 2004. He withdrew his nomination a week later after revealing he had not paid taxes related to a nanny who was an illegal immigrant. Kerik's Nannygate, however, was followed by revelations of a flood of more scandalous missteps, including an affair with the publisher of his memoirs, Judith Regan, in an apartment near ground zero intended for weary 9/11 rescue workers. Regan later said she hired a bodyguard after the relationship ended and Kerik continued pursuing her.

? In 2006, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor ethics violations committed while serving as corrections commissioner; Kerik admitted accepting $165,000 in renovations to his Bronx apartment from a company accused of having ties to organized crime that sought city business. He paid $221,000 in fines, and under orders from Mayor Mike Bloomberg, his name was removed from the Bernard B. Kerik Complex, a Manhattan jail, which reverted to its original name, the Manhattan Detention Complex.

? Indicted on federal corruption charges in November 2007 and on tax fraud and other charges in May 2009. He was accused of failing to report $200,000 in rental income and failing to disclose a $250,000 loan to White House officials vetting him for the Homeland Security role, among other crimes. His legal troubles would end up damaging Giuliani's 2008 presidential bid.

? His bail was revoked and Kerik was sent to jail on Oct. 20 [2009] by an angry federal judge who accused him of leaking legal information to an outside attorney, who later provided that information to the Washington Times, seeking favorable coverage (the newspaper did not print the material). Kerik became Inmate No. 210717 at the Westchester County jail in Valhalla, N.Y.
http://content.time.com/time/nation/art ... 25,00.html

Guilty pleas and imprisonment occur in late October and November of 2009 as the ZRS major goes to Cancer, the 12th Whole Sign house. This is almost perfect timing and demonstrates the usefulness of Zodiacal Releasing from Spirit to demonstrate the peaks and troughs of a natives reputation.

However, I was struggling to understand why things began to go so wrong for Kerik while he still had 4 to 5 years with Mercury as the major time lord of Spirit. Valens does note that when the general times is handed over to the stewardship of a malefic, the benefics prematurely abandon the native and negative periods start earlier as a result (my wording). But 4 to 5 years is too much.

The 'loosing of the bond' (marked 'LB', here L1 Gemini to L1 Sagittarius), a technique noted for indicating a change in the times occurred for Kerik in July 2007 may partially explain his fall from grace. But Jupiter is one of Kerik's best planets so I wasn't entirely convinced by this.

There must be something else at work.

Ascensional Times of the Sect Light Trigon Lords

The trigon lords divide the life into two parts (some say three but that's not important for this post) with the first trigon lord having dominion over the first part of the native's life and the second trigon lord for the remainder.

The duration of a trigon lord's dominion is determined by adding the ascensional times of the sign where the planet is placed to the lesser years of that planet.

In Kerik's case the first trigon lord is Jupiter in Leo in the 1st house. This is an extremely fortunate placement and holds a strong protective influence over Kerik's life and assists in his rise in life (Jupiter also rules Spirit).

Consider the following quote from an article about his downfall:
Kerik had a sense of invulnerability. Given his background and the dangerous work he?d done, he?d come to believe that nothing could happen to him. One cop who?s known him for years describes Kerik?s attitude this way: ?I get shot at, but I don?t get hit. I save wounded cops. I don?t get wounded.?
http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/fe ... ndex2.html

There are some difficulties with Jupiter, however. Jupiter is not of the sect in favour, this being a nocturnal figure and the tight, but separating and overcoming square to Saturn/Scorpio.

But the main problem is that Jupiter will not remain the main trigon lord forever!

The ascenional times of Leo for Kerik's birthplace are 38.27 years. Add the 12 lesser years of Jupiter and we come to the age of 50 and a few months (near the end of the year 2005).

From then on (or perhaps up to a year earlier ? remember what Valens wrote about bad times starting early), the second trigon lord the Sun has taken over and it is the out-of-sect light, has fallen amiss in the second house of personal income/moveable wealth, afflicted by a conjunction to Mars. Kerik was undone by financial improprieties and intense negative media scrutiny. The close conjunction of the Sun with Venus can?t go unmentioned here and there were also allegations of affairs.

Summary

Kerik is an excellent example of how well placed benefics ruling over time periods can result in much progress in life but also how quickly things turn when malefics take over.

From 2005 to 2009, Jupiter (1st Trigon Lord) and Mercury (L1 ZRS lord) respectively have been replaced as major time lords by the Sun (2nd Trigon Lord) and the Moon (L1 ZRS Lord), and both lights have their afflictions. The Moon rules the 12th, one imprisonment (?jailer and jailed?). The Sun is afflicted by a conjunction with Mars in the 2nd of income. He was undone by financial improprieties.

Finally, it is also interesting to note that as Kerik is in the news again for his book release, he?s in a Libra L2 ZRS which is 10th from Fortune and Mercury, natural significator of such matters, is in Libra.

Edit: Image of Kerik's natal chart had been replaced with an unrelated picture of some social situation not belonging to me (probably due to being assigned the same IMGCode by tinypic). Re-uploaded and replaced with correct image.
Last edited by Stellarium on Mon Apr 06, 2015 4:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Nice analysis demonstrating the power of the technique!

If we had exact dates for some events such as the date he was incarcerated, might we find the focus periods of the more general times active at L3/L4? I find that to be a common occurrence for nativities with birth times known well enough to place the lots in the correct signs.
Curtis Manwaring
Zoidiasoft Technologies, LLC

Re: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Bernard Kerik

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hi stellarium,

thanks for sharing your work. i still haven't gotten into this particular technique of zodiacal releasing to see the merits of it, but i was tempted to start a thread on the fellow in the general forum.. i can't do so much with a birth time that is not exact as i tend to rely more heavily on the specific degree of the angles..

i don't agree with your psychological interpretation of jupiter in leo rising. i would think there are a number of astro factors that could help describe the pcyhological idea of an oversized ego.. if you had said jupiter rising in leo squared by saturn in scorpio, i might have been able to relate to the idea better... other astro factors would contribute to this view on him.
Stellarium wrote:
Leo rising with Jupiter in the Ascendant matches descriptions of Kerik as having an oversized ego

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zoidsoft wrote:Nice analysis demonstrating the power of the technique!

If we had exact dates for some events such as the date he was incarcerated, might we find the focus periods of the more general times active at L3/L4? I find that to be a common occurrence for nativities with birth times known well enough to place the lots in the correct signs.
According to Wikipedia:
On October 20, 2009, Kerik's bail was revoked after he allegedly disclosed information that was under seal.[45] He was remanded to the Westchester County Department of Corrections jail in Valhalla, New York, which has a section reserved for federal prisoners.[46][47]

On November 5, 2009, Kerik pleaded guilty to eight felony tax and false statement charges,[48] and surrendered at the U.S. minimum security prison camp in Cumberland, Maryland, on May 17, 2010. He was discharged from federal custody on October 15, 2013, after serving 5 months on home confinement.[49]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Kerik

On October 20th, 2009 the ZRS is GE(SA)-CP-SC-AR. This would be an L2 to L3 focus period as Saturn (CP ruler) is in Scorpio.

On November 5th, 2009 the L4 is Leo but the L3 changeover to Sag occured on the follwing day.

However, all of this occured within a month of the major changeover to Cancer as L1 on November 19th so it's possible that that period began a bit early.

Re: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Bernard Kerik

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james_m wrote:hi stellarium,

thanks for sharing your work. i still haven't gotten into this particular technique of zodiacal releasing to see the merits of it, but i was tempted to start a thread on the fellow in the general forum.. i can't do so much with a birth time that is not exact as i tend to rely more heavily on the specific degree of the angles..

i don't agree with your psychological interpretation of jupiter in leo rising. i would think there are a number of astro factors that could help describe the pcyhological idea of an oversized ego.. if you had said jupiter rising in leo squared by saturn in scorpio, i might have been able to relate to the idea better... other astro factors would contribute to this view on him.
Stellarium wrote:
Leo rising with Jupiter in the Ascendant matches descriptions of Kerik as having an oversized ego
Of course there are different astro factors to indicate this but I believe this is one of them.

A similar natal chart is that of Lyndon Johnson, also noted for a huge ego who shares Kerik's Jupiter/Leo in the Ascendant in addition to Sun and Mars in Virgo/2nd.

http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Johnson,_Lyndon_B.

Re: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Bernard Kerik

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i see this more as a poor functioning jupiter which is coming out of somewhere else in the chart, as opposed to the jupiter rising.. i guess that is what i am trying to say.. a healthy chart would demonstrate jupiter rising in leo as confidence, as opposed to over confidence for example.. weakness in a chart can come out in different ways, but for me the saturn down in the 4th is much more to do with the demonstration of oversized ego, then the jupiter - hey but this is how i tend to read charts.

as for lb - it is interesting to note the similarity which includes the mars/sun conjunction and in addition saturn in aries, as opposed to keriks moon in aries which is a particular set up i see having a lot to do with either persons psychological disposition as well..
Stellarium wrote:
Leo rising with Jupiter in the Ascendant matches descriptions of Kerik as having an oversized ego
[/quote]

Of course there are different astro factors to indicate this but I believe this is one of them.

[/quote]

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Anybody notice how Jupiter is the 12th house exaltation ruler located in the 1st? Maybe that's why he fell when the LB occurred - the other face of Jupiter emerged. It's 8th from Fortune (8th house exalted ruler in the 1st).

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Leo rising with Jupiter in the Ascendant matches descriptions of Kerik as having an oversized ego:
This makes sense particularly from a modern astrology standpoint. Jupiter, however is in the same sign as the ASC and ruled by a peregrine Sun in a bad house. The ASC ruler, and Jupiter's ruler can do little for the native, so whatever it is that might inflate his ego is built on sand. He thinks he will get away with everything and there is nothing to hold up that viewpoint. The mutual reception probably inflates his sense of self as much as the placement in Leo. Still he achieved a position of great distinction and responsibility, and he did a good job while he held it.
Anybody notice how Jupiter is the 12th house exaltation ruler located in the 1st?
Exaltation rulers are often unjustifiably ignored. In this case it would indicate bringing troubles, illnesses, and imprisonment to the native.

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Tom wrote:Exaltation rulers are often unjustifiably ignored. In this case it would indicate bringing troubles, illnesses, and imprisonment to the native.
Yes. There is something called the doctrine of participation which Schmidt translated from Antiochus in 2009. If the domicile lord is in aversion, then one is supposed to check the exaltation lord or the joint domicile master (preferably of the sect) if neither the domicile or exaltation lord can cast a ray into the topic. Sometimes they both cast rays into the topic, so in that case there is participation.

Schmidt remarked that the "joint domicile master" gives us a glimpse into the period before there were trigon lords proper. For instance if Cancer represents the topic in question, then if neither the Moon or Jupiter casts a ray into the place, then if it is a nocturnal chart, check Mars as ruler of Scorpio first and Jupiter as ruler of Pisces (if day the reverse). If either of these can cast a ray into the topic then the one of the sect is preferred.
Curtis Manwaring
Zoidiasoft Technologies, LLC