When word of Jaycee’s release first surfaced on Friday I of course took an immediate look at her birthchart.  You would expect that someone who was kidnapped and forced to be a sex slave for 18 years would have a horrific chart full of Plutonic undertones but that did not turn out to be the case.  We do not have a time of birth for Jaycee, and while her chart (May 3, 1980) does show a conjunction of the Sun to Chiron which does suggest a wounding in childhood, there is also a strong fantasy element to the chart.  That Sun/Chiron conjunction is in the earthy sign of Taurus showing that she is a person who needs to feel that life is stable (Taurus), but that an early wound (Chiron) made that impossible.  

Jaycee’s birthchart has the Moon in Sagittarius conjunct Neptune, fusing the emotions (Moon) with creativity and imagination (Neptune).  Moon/Neptune people are extraordinarily creative, but also sometimes have difficulty being grounded in reality.  That Sagittarian Moon longs for freedom and does not like to dwell in despair. 

Her Moon/Neptune conjunction is opposed by Venus which enhances that powerful creative imagination even more, adding to the picture of a young girl who perhaps found an opportunity to escape from a life that was difficult and unhappy.  We don’t know much about Jaycee’s family, but news reports suggest that her biological father left the family at an early age and made no contact after that.  Aspects to the Sun often reveal the relationship of an individual to a father, and a Chiron/Sun conjunction often will show the death or abandonment by the father.  

Saturn in Jaycee’s chart is retrograde, indicating an individual who tends to be more self-critical than other people, and it forms a T-square ( a challenging aspect) to both Venus, showing a deep blow to her self-worth, and the Moon/Neptune conjunction as well.  Saturn square to the Moon can show depression, but this T-square also shows someone who is deeply shy and socially awkward.  

At the same time, though, she has Mars on the Leo/Virgo cusp conjunct Jupiter within 30 minutes which is a tight conjunction.  On a certain level she was practical and grounded, and that Mars/Jupiter conjunction provides an abundance of energy and enthusiasm.  It also forms a trine to her Taurus Mercury, providing balance and an intellectual focus and reason to be able to work through any challenge.

Jaycee’s stepfather was two blocks away at the time of the disappearance and was an initial suspect in the case.  He has been very visible in the aftermath, although it appears that he and Jaycee’s mother are no longer together.  

The transits at the time of Jaycee’s capture on June 10, 1991 are interesting as well, with transiting Mars and Jupiter conjunct in the sky, forming a nearly exact square to Jaycee’s Sun/Chiron conjunction.  Shortly after her kidnapping there are a series of Jupiter transits to her natal chart that suggest a sense of liberation.  Jaycee’s stepfather has said that she came to feel that her relationship with her captor was a kind of marriage.  After 18 years of captivity, that family would have become more real to her than her old life. 

I certainly don’t mean to imply that there was anything beneficial in Jaycee’s abduction.  But life is complex, and understanding the astrological implications helps to provide greater understanding.  I myself was assaulted at the age of 10.  Lonely and feeling unloved, I willingly went off with the man who then assaulted me.  This experience took me through a darkness that I would not have otherwise known, but the actual experience was no more  traumatic as life in my family was at the time.  The astrological signatures of an event provide clues as to the nature of these events for the growth of the individual.

At the time of her reappearance she was in the throes of her Saturn return, the time at age 28-30 when Saturn returns to its place in the birthchart.  This is a challenging time for anyone, as Saturn requires that we face reality and move into adulthood.  For Jaycee, the Saturn return hit the Moon/Venus/Neptune planetary system as well, perhaps jolting her into a shocking awareness.  In fact, at the time of her reappearance transiting Saturn was exactly square to Neptune, and Jaycee woke up (Saturn) from this bad dream (Neptune).