Gangsters and Thugs: Antonino Accardo

What qualities would you expect from a "hard man"? I think we would expect someone who is ruthless, determined, and strong willed. Gangster's like to have power and control over their world. A desire to make a lot of money too and they will often use underhand methods to achieve that goal. Crime and the underworld in astrology terms belongs to Pluto and you would probably also look to Saturn aspects for organisation, authority, and control. This is a good topic to do under our current Saturn-Pluto climate. We might also look to other planets for rebellion (Uranus) deception and drug dealing (Neptune). I will move onto some chart examples and see how this works out.

Antonino "Joe Batters" Accardo (April 28, 1906 – May 22, 1992), also known as "Big Tuna", rose from a small-time hoodlum to the position of day-to-day boss of the Chicago Outfit criminal organization in about 1943, to ultimately become the final Outfit authority in 1972, until his death in May 1992. Accardo moved The Outfit into new operations and territories, greatly increasing its power and wealth during his tenure as boss.

It was during Prohibition that Accardo received the "Joe Batters" nickname from Capone himself due to his skill at hitting a couple of Outfit traitors with a baseball bat at a dinner Capone held just to kill the two men. Capone was quoted as saying, "This kid's a real Joe Batters"' The Chicago newspapers eventually dubbed Accardo, "The Big Tuna," after a fishing expedition where Accardo caught a giant tuna. In later years, Accardo boasted over federal wiretaps he participated in the infamous 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre in which, allegedly, Capone gunmen murdered seven members of the rival North Side Gang. Accardo also claimed that he was one of the gunmen who murdered Brooklyn, New York gang boss Frankie Yale, again by Capone's orders to settle a dispute. However, most experts today believe Accardo had only peripheral connections with the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and none whatsoever with the Yale murder. However, on October 11, 1926, Accardo may have participated in the assassination of, then, Northside, Chicago, gang leader Hymie Weiss, near the Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago.

The astrology

Acardo has three planets in Taurus (Sun, Venus and Mars). Taurus is assocaited with money and security. Accardo had established a solid reputation making money for the company. He also had a solid marriage and there were no reports that he cheated on his wife. Taurus is a fixed sign and they usually stay committed and refuse to abandon a secure job, stable relationship, house etc. Taurus the bull has strength and tenacity but he is known to be slow in his movement. He is very powerful and purposeful  and his Taurean desires may need 'taming' for they often have strong physical appetites and a need for material accumilation.

Taurus waits patiently and doesn't rush headfirst into a situation and for this reason he can be somewhat disarming, because he can appear peaceable, patient, and slow but he will often take many opponant by surprise with his volatile temper. His rage can be slow to surface but once it is unleashed it can have devastating impact. Values and tradition are deeply important to the Taurean and he will build something solid and permanant - but he hates change. Taurus needs security. Read the fate of the men below who invaded his security.

"In 1978, while Accardo vacationed in California, burglars brazenly entered his River Forest home. Within a month, five of the suspected thieves were found strangled and with their throats cut. Prosecutors at the time believed Accardo, furious that his lair had been violated, had ordered the killings".

Accardo has Mercury in Aries at the apex of a t-square involving Uranus and Neptune and he needs intellectual challenge and he can produce innovative ideas, and he often intiated plans. Mercury in the natal chart rules communcation, travelling, trading, cars, trucking and newspapers etc. Read below about his legal investments. Cardinal t-squares are well known for their business and leadership skills.

In later years, Accardo spent much of his time in Palm Springs, California, flying to Chicago to preside over Outfit "sit-downs" and mediate disputes. By this time, Accardo's personal holdings included legal investments in commercial office buildings, retail centers, lumber farms, paper factories, hotels, car dealerships, trucking companies, newspaper companies, restaurants and travel agencies.

Accardo also has two mutable squares with Saturn in Pisces square Jupiter and Pluto in Gemini. Jupiter in Gemini does well in anything involving trade, travel, communcation. With Jupiter square Saturn he will struggle with his need for expansion (Jupiter) and contraction (Saturn). He can have good organisational skills and under his leadership the gang implemented slot machines and vending machines. Saturn-Pluto is in a wide square and this can indicate a workaholic nature and need to dominate others or the fear of domination. My first gang leader example was pretty interesting and he was no Scorpion but indeed a Taurean. If you have read Liz Greene's Astrology for Lover's she touches upon our shadow sides showing the opposite traits of our natal planets.