Astrological Counseling in Vienna
You will read about:
- the historical and political context of the BUWOG scandal
- the time of Karl-Heinz Grasser's birth and the uncertainty of the sources
- astrological clues that correspond to events
- the use of traditional astrological techniques such as almuten and dignities
- constellations that symbolise deprivation of liberty
- astrological indicators for financial entanglements
- the horoscope of the BUWOG process and the symbolism of the parties to the conflict
Corruption and political scandals of the Schüssel government
After many years of socialist (SPÖ) and Christian-conservative (ÖVP) governments, Wolfgang Schüssel of the Christian-conservative party succeeded in 2000 in making right-wing populist ideas socially acceptable and integrating them into the political mainstream through a coalition with the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). His government (2000-2007) was also characterized by a series of politically and economically significant corruption scandals, including the BUWOG affair, the Telekom scandal, and the Eurofighter and Tetron affairs.
One of these scandals, the BUWOG affair, ended just a few days ago with a prison sentence for the youngest Finance Minister in Austrian history at the time of his appointment in 2000 - Karl-Heinz Grasser (FPÖ). In 2009, two years after his withdrawal from politics, Grasser and others were reported to the public prosecutor's office on suspicion of corruption. After eight years of investigation, the trial against Grasser began in December 2017; in 2020, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption in the BUWOG real estate deal (1).
The Supreme Court: “Serious Crimes with Serious Consequences”
On March 25, 2025, the Supreme Court confirmed the guilty verdict against Grasser, who had appealed in 2020, citing procedural errors and judicial bias. According to the investigative magazine Profil from 25.03.25: "'These are serious crimes with serious consequences.' Corruption by a Finance Minister with damages amounting to almost ten million euros for his own personal enrichment is 'unprecedented in Austria'."(2) Grasser's prison sentence was reduced to four years due to the long duration of the proceedings, partly because the defendants extensively exercised their right to legal remedies.
The confirmation of the 2020 verdict has provoked my curiosity to analyze the astrological constellations in Grasser's birth and trial horoscopes more closely.
Grasser's Birth Horoscope: Astrological Indications of Events and Character
The Question of the Correct Birth Time
Karl-Heinz Grasser: 2. Januar 1969, 8:29 GMT, Klagenfurt, Österreich; Source: Elisabeth Selzer
The horoscope shown here was calculated using the birth time provided on the website of Vienna astrologer Elisabeth Selzer (3).
If this time information is correct, the horoscope contains classical astrological indications of the possibility of imprisonment.
The symbolism of liberty deprivation in the horoscope
The Ascendant is ruled by a weakened Saturn in its fall. The impaired Saturn is square to the Sun in the twelfth house. Saturn also rules the Ascendant, the cusp of the twelfth house, and the Sun - all of which confirm the symbolism of imprisonment. The horoscope for the time 8:29 GMT describes something else concerning the verdict against Karl-Heinz Grasser: Saturn is in the second house and connects money and its acquisition with the astrological signature for imprisonment.
Since the source of Grasser's birth time is unknown, its reliability remains questionable. Nevertheless, I forgo a time-consuming birthtime rectification and instead use traditional astrology tools, making it possible to assess the strength of the planets regardless of their house position. I focus on analyzing the sign positions and aspects of the planets to highlight general horoscope factors and examine whether they are relevant to the court case and verdict.
The Almutens in the Horoscope: Mars and Saturn as Dominant Influences
Defining the Almuten is a technique from traditional astrology that determines the planet's influence on the horoscope. "Almuten" comes from Arabic and means "the strong one." Saturn is the planet in this horoscope with the most essential dignities in the degrees occupied by the seven traditional planets - without considering the Moon (4) - and thus their compound Almuten.
Karl-Heinz Grasser: 2. Januar 1969, Klagenfurt, Österreich; Horoscope without birthtime, Aries houses
If I look at the Almutens of the individual planets, I find that Mars is the Almuten of Mercury and Mars, while Saturn is the Almuten of Venus, Sun, and Jupiter. These two planets set the tone for five planets in the birth horoscope: Mercury, Mars, Venus, Sun, and Jupiter. A planet in aspect to its Almuten receives support, the effect of which depends on the condition of the planets themselves. The mutual reception (5) allows this pair of debilitated planets to operate smoothly for a while and disguise the difficulties of the square and the lack of essential dignities.
Weakened Planets as Character and Decision Indicators
Traditional astrology attributes greed, envy, and negligence to the weakened Saturn. A peregrine (6) planet as a significator is also not ascribed the positive qualities, as its inherent nature cannot be easily expressed in this state. Thus, the Sun in Capricorn can symbolize characteristics such as arrogance or a strong preference for luxury (7).
Since Saturn and the Sun are in unfavorable signs for them, and they "give in" to each other, the overall result of the native's actions will tend to be less favorable. The insufficient support from Jupiter and Venus also maintains the negative evaluation of this pair of planets. The peregrine Jupiter square to the Sun can only intensify the destructive properties of the Sun, and the sextile from Venus to Saturn is a separating aspect that is almost out of the orb (8) and, therefore, has little balancing effect.
The Connections of Mars-Venus and Mars-Sun: Potentially More Constructive Driving Forces
As another strong planet in Karl-Heinz Grasser's horoscope, we have already identified Mars. It is the second strongest composite Almuten of the six planets mentioned above. Furthermore, it possesses three essential dignities according to the Dorothean triplicity table and all five according to the Ptolemaic triplicity table (9). Traditionally, Mars in dignity is attributed to qualities such as self-confidence, willingness to take risks, and initiative, but it also generally stands for a "taker."
Mars forms a wide separative sextile to the Capricorn Sun and a trine to Venus across the sign boundary. These supportive contacts give Mars a friendlier and less self-centered expression. When both planets are taken as natural significators, the Venus-Mars combination shows initiative in love relationships and all matters related to pleasure. The Mars-Sun connection, regardless of its accidental symbolism, indicates purposeful action and initiative that can generally lead to success, provided the goal is socially acceptable, not exclusively to emphasize one's own importance or to strive for luxury (see the attributes of the weakened Sun above).
The Hypothetical Planetray House Positions: Financial Entanglements
The birth time provided by Elisabeth Selzer seems to have been researched and possibly corrected, but without explicit confirmation, this birth time remains unreliable. Nevertheless, this birth horoscope aligns with the events that have befallen Grasser through his decisions and actions. (Please look at the first horoscope at the beginning of the text.)
The Venus-Mars Connection: Money and Foreign Resources
Here, we see Venus, the ruler of the eighth house, is in the Ascendant. That not only indicates physical beauty (10), but in combination with Mars, the ruler of the second house positioned in the eighth, it is also the astrological signature for someone whose personal finances are closely connected with the resources of other people - including the state treasury, banking business, or financial benefits from marriage.
Additionally, Mars forms a square with Mercury across the sign boundary. When the square is completed, Mars is no longer the dispositor of Mercury, as Mercury enters Aquarius. For this reason, Mercury is injured by Mars. The combination promotes ingenuity and quick thinking but can also favor misjudgments. Looking at the house positions, the symbolism of personal finances is also tied into this aspect. Mars is connected with the axis of the 2nd and 8th houses, while Mercury is in the 12th house - an astrological reference to secret or underhand methods and gains from losses. The position of the Sun in the 12th house and its square to Saturn in Aries would underline this and indicate the likelihood of motivation by greed, as Saturn in this horoscope is the ruler of the Ascendant and is in the 2nd house.
The BUWOG Trial Horoscope: Astrological Constellations and the Verdict
The transits of September 13, 2017—the start of the trial—show connections to the two highlighted Almutens of the natal chart: transiting Pluto was in an exact square to natal Saturn, and transiting Mars was in close conjunction with natal Mars.
BUWOG Trial Horoscope; Beginning of the Trial: Live Reporting from ORF.at on December 13, 2017
The Astrological Representation of the Parties Involved
The trial focused on Karl-Heinz Grasser as a central figure and four other prominent individuals. The remaining eleven defendants played a subordinate role in the BUWOG corruption scandal. The ascending lunar node in the 7th house could symbolically represent the multitude of accused individuals. However, it is difficult to precisely determine the significators for 15 people in a trial horoscope. The ruler of the 7th house can be considered as a significator for the collective defendants but could also symbolically represent Grasser himself, as the Sun is the natural significator for high-ranking government officials.
The Prosecution Reflected in Planetary Constellations
Saturn in Sagittarius at 29° symbolizes the prosecution as well as slowness and hard work. The descending lunar node in the Ascendant may point to insufficient resources, while Saturn's sign change indicates changes. It is known that inadequate personnel resources and staff changes within the prosecution significantly delayed the indictment process.
With Saturn's shift into Capricorn, it gains essential dignity, making it fundamentally more potent. Saturn, in its domicile, carries the symbolism of meticulous and strict workers who operate strictly within legal frameworks. But Saturn is combusted by the Sun. Since the Sun symbolizes the defendant and his defense, its role becomes apparent here. That is the reflection of the defense's extensive use of legal remedies, which also significantly slowed the prosecution's pace.
The Moon symbolizes the trial itself, and its first aspect is a sextile to Saturn, strengthening the prosecution's position. Shortly thereafter, the Moon moves into Scorpio and forms a conjunction with Mars, a powerful planet in this horoscope (an Almuten in domicile, triplicity, term, and decan). The Moon's reception by Mars supports the prosecution's argumentation, even though Moon's lack of dignity points to weaknesses too.
The Defense Within Astrological Framework of the trial chart
The Sun in Sagittarius, as the significator of the defendant, is in triplicity and strengthened in this position. After completing its trine to Uranus, it moves into Capricorn and loses its essential dignity while Saturn becomes its dispositor. The peregrine Sun under this constellation may indicate that the defense operates on terrain where it cannot pursue creative approaches or establish its own rules but must submit to the prosecution's directives. Venus is impaired by combustion as well as by its peregrine state. While Venus supports the Sun through conjunction, this cannot counter Saturn's strength. When the Sun enters Capricorn and completes its conjunction with Saturn, it is further weakened by Saturn's one-sided reception. The sextile to Mars is frustrated by three preceding aspects, providing little support to the Sun.
Astrological Conclusion
Thus, it becomes evident that the trial horoscope indicated a likelihood of conviction through arguments presented by the prosecution—this indeed occurred and led to a guilty verdict.
The Judge in BUWOG Trial Horoscope: Independence and Adherence to Law
Since accusations of bias were made against Judge Marion Hohenecker by defendants who also criticized procedural aspects, we can examine the 10th house further. Judge Marion Hohenecker is symbolized by Jupiter, the natural significator of judges and justice. Jupiter resides in the 9th house, which represents judicial systems. That signifies that Judge Hohenecker correctly evaluated documents, witnesses, and expert opinions while adhering to legal frameworks during proceedings. Furthermore, Jupiter has no Ptolemaic aspects to any of the seven traditional planets, underscoring Judge's independence.
Jupiter dissolves from its trine to Neptune in Pisces, whose dispositor it is —a symbolic representation of pre-trial phases marked by instability, structural issues, and lack of transparency. Jupiter's connection to Pluto in Capricorn in the 12th house—the house of imprisonment—points to political significance tied to this verdict.
The Part of Fortune, located in the 10th house, is derived from a mathematical formula incorporating the positions of luminaries and Ascendant. Symbolically, this indicates that truth was uncovered during proceedings and that judgment was based on clear facts and applicable law.
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(1) The BUWOG real estate deal represents a privatization project by Austria’s government involving 60,000 federal apartments. As part of this project, Grasser and several other defendants allegedly earned millions.
(2) https://www.profil.at/investigativ/rechtskraeftig-vier-jahre-haft-fuer-grasser-wegen-korruption-und-untreue/403026165
(3) Elisabeth Selzer’s website has been unavailable for years; its previous address was astroselzer.com.
(4) The Moon moves approximately 12° per day; without an exact birth time, determining its precise position becomes difficult for calculating essential dignities accurately.
(5) Mutual reception occurs when two planets moving toward each other are simultaneously disposited by one another.
(6) A peregrine planet lacks essential dignities according to traditional astrology principles.
(7) see ‘Christian Astrology’ by William Lilly
(8) The full orb for Venus is 7° and for Saturn 8°. Venus is slightly more than 8° away from Saturn.
(9) The Dorothean and Ptolemaic triplicity tables differ in the rulership of the water triplicity. The Dorothean tables assign Venus to a daily horoscope, while Ptolemy recorded the use of Mars for both night and day horoscopes.
(10) In an ORF discussion programme ‘Im Zentrum’ (2016), Grasser read out a letter from a female admirer stating that he was ‘too young, too intelligent, too beautiful’ and was therefore being persecuted by the judiciary. https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/karl-heinz-grasser-zu-jung-zu-schoen-zu-reich-und-nun-verurteilt-podcast-a-825efb98-1c91-4ee4-8445-3442bf7c1a1c
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