Accused of keeping two children in a ‘concentration camp-like setting’, two defendants claimed the abuse they inflicted was necessary to teach the children how to properly repent for “sins” and to cast the evil spirits out of their bodies.
“Mumfluencer” Ruby Franke with a multi-million fanbase on YouTube and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt were given 60 years in jail for child cruelty in a case the prosecutor said was the worst he had seen in thirty years.
Franke appears to have repented for her actions though Hildebrandt who thinks God communicates directly with her continues to see herself as the victim. She views the devil, as well as the children, as the perpetrators.
Franke said she was “led to believe that this world was an evil place filled with cops who control, hospitals that injure, government agencies that brainwash, church leaders who lie and lust, husbands who refuse to protect and children who need abuse.”
Schizoid delusions apart, what it reminded me off was a comment years ago by Ellen Bass who wrote Courage to Heal about abuse survivors. She had spoken at one point to Ralph Underwager, an American minister and vehement supporter of those accused of child abuse, who co-founded the US False Memory movement. She said she thought one crucial difference between them was she thought of babies as innocents entering the world while he saw them as evil, sin-carriers. How a religion that started with Jesus saying ‘suffer little children to come to me’ ended up with a twisted exorcist mindset is beyond me.
Ruby Franke, 18 January 1982, is a Sun Capricorn square Saturn Pluto in Libra which suggests a bleak upbringing, leaving her attuned to harsh conditions. She has her North Node in Cancer opposition her Sun which should in time bring about a more caring approach to family – but clearly she is not there yet.
Jodi Hildebrandt, 15 June 1969, was a “life coach” who claimed to cure her clients of ‘distortion’ and live in Truth. She is a Sun Gemini with a formidably confident square to Pluto, South Node, Jupiter and Uranus in Virgo. Her cold Venus Saturn conjunction in Taurus is inconjunct Mars which has an unpleasant feel to it.
Their relationship chart does have a controlling composite Sun opposition Pluto and Jupiter i initially good as a power couple but only as long as both stay together on the same track. Franke looks as if she could be cowed into submission. Hildebrandt looks more overly dominant. Both their South Nodes are strongly connected to their Sun and other planets – pulling them backwards into unevolved ways of behaving.
Franke had six children in all with husband Kevin, 9 October 1978, a Sun Pluto conjunct in Libra.
The oldest two – Chad, 2 February 2005 (net sources) has a Sun Neptune trine Jupiter and a Mars Pluto conjunction inconjunct Saturn – a mix of an evasive father and extreme fear/cruelty.
Shari Franke, 3 March 2003 (net sources) has a Pisces Sun square Pluto and Saturn opposition a wide Pluto Mars conjunction – never given choices, badly treated.
Mars Pluto runs through the children’s charts and the relationship charts of all including Kevin with mom Ruby. She may have tried to offload responsibility elsewhere for her warped mindset but she will have to own the personal gratification she got from it at some point.
Thank Virgoflake and Gnarly Dude for your insights about the psychology of Sun-Saturn. Am finding a colleague with Sun conjunct Saturn in Aquarius (opposite Moon conjunct Mars in Leo) not easy to deal with… Very hard-working with great courage but also sometimes overconfident, veryhard-headed, brash and, paradoxically, shy…
You’ve pretty much described the polarities of this person … Sun-Saturn in Aqua – shy about expressing themself / Leo moon-mars – overconfident, brash etc. (Although Aqua can think itself the smartest thing in the room when talking about ideas/stuff)
With oppositions, the native will usually bounce from one end to the other. If you pick up one end, you will force them to pick up the other e.g. if you come across as Leo – expressional, emotional, dramatic; you should see the shy Aqua! If you keep your distance and withhold judgement, you’ll see the Leo roar. You could even trying switching mid-conversation and see what happens!!
Really though – it sounds like they are playing to the extremes of each sign. Nothing wrong with Aqua or Leo when they are tempered themselves and integrated some of the opposing signs characteristics.
Thank you so much for the interpretation, Gnarly Dude! This is enlightening and helpful. Best wishes!
Her chart lacks anything in the self-development signs (Aries-Leo). It’s rare to see a chart so one-sided. It leaves her floundering around listening to the views of others but no real anchor for evaluating it. Not that I want to give her a pass. These people think themselves so smart, yet their self-awareness is skindeep.
Noting in the noon chart she has Moon in Scorpio opposite Chiron in Taurus – both of which will have been hit hard in recent times by the Mars-Uranus-NN conjunction of summer 2022.
Interesting that even in court, she tried to take control and put the judge in a double-bind by saying they should send her to prison. I guess that is instinct of Scorpio moon especially when in a damaged person.
Thank you Marjorie. It’s remarkable how frequently Mars/Saturn/Pluto and Sun/Pluto show up in these cases, and yet Pluto contacts have the potential for stopping the continuation of generational trauma through therapy and inner work. When I looked at Franke’s chart I was reminded of that of Lori Vallow who mudered her two children, aided by her brother and lover, Chad Daybell both members of a religious cult along with Vallow who believed Vallow’s two children to be evil. She would also collect life insurance payouts as a result of their deaths.
Vallow is a Sun in early Cancer widely conjunct Saturn at the end of Gemini which is the focal point of a T-Square with Mars in Aries opposition Pluto in Aries. Moon in Taurus Squares Jupiter in Aquarius. Curiously, like Franke her Sun is conjunct her South Node in Cancer. She also has a grand trine with Mars trine Neptune in Sag, trine Mercury at the end if Cancer.
With Saturn, Mars, Sun and Pluto in aspect, it’s almost as if these women have enacted the Saturnian myth of Cronos devouring his own children out of fear that one day they may be overthrown by them. I truly fear for children subjected their parents’ religious grandiosity and fervour.
Saturn is a huge problem for so many people in stunting their moral, emotional and spiritual development. I think it wasn’t such a problem in the old days when everything was so much more structured from cradle-to-grave. And the modern world has a lack of genuinely decent role models – particularly in politics/business and so on. Success seems to be defined by how well you can commercialise or monetise it.
Thanks GD. I’ve noticed that Sun/Saturn seems to crop up in the charts of those diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. NPD is thought to develop due to a number of factors – genetics play a part as do severe parental neglect, trauma or conversely overprotective parenting, excessively spoiling the child for example or a parent who overpraises and puts the child on a pedestal. As a consequence a false Self is constructed as a defensive psychological wall. It strikes one just how Sun/Saturn-ish this process is. An unevolved Sun/Saturn needs to understand its defense mechanisms and fears in order to achieve growth, I think. It’s a challenging aspect but at the same time has tremendous potential for the gaining of wisdom. Liz Greene goes into this in her book, ‘Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil’.
I’m sure it does and as you say contributes to the development of the False Self.
I’ve met a few Sun-Saturn people along the way and while they weren’t necessarily NPDs, there was always a part of themselves which I could tell they were hiding away. You can never fully get to know them. I took it that they were too afraid to put it out into public (or even the relationship) because they were fearful of it being too shameful. Often it was plastered over with a smiling face to win approval.
I recall someone saying, and I tend to agree with this, that if the shame continues to build about who they are / things they have done; the False Self ‘wins’ and overwhelms the authentic self. At that point, they’re a lost cause.
I would have expected the Moon/Cancer/IC to be involved too, as those are where the self begins to develop.
Indeed. Shame is one of the cornerstones of NPD I believe. The Sun/Saturn individual can be excessively fearful of their own potential. Or conversely steep themselves in workaholicism and outward success. The best way to tackle Sun/Saturn I think is to ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’. Shyness is often a part of Sun/Saturn too, and as you say it’s hard work sometimes trying to know them. I have the square btw! I was extremely shy as a child and afraid to speak up, which was aproblem when I first started school. I remember hiding in cupboards and other nooks around the house because I felt safer there.
Agree – the only way to overcome any thing is to break out of your comfort zone and risk being ‘wrong’ (but also risk being okay/alright which can be surprisingly tough and ignored by people who love confirmation bias). Think these things are usually easier if there is a good dose of fire in the chart that is willing to dive into things – albeit not necessarily if Saturn is there.
Erin Sullivan’s book “Saturn Transits” is a comprehensive read. Combine that with Liz Greene’s book and I’m not sure there’s much more to be said on it.
Glad you made it out of the nooks and cupboards!!
Thanks for writing this, Virgoflake. I’ve recently- and reluctantly- concluded that my sibling most probably suffers from NPD.
They have Sun conjunct Saturn in Aries, focal points of a double yod.
I’ve always been very reluctant to use labels such as narcissistic but when I finally allowed myself the possibility of applying that label and looked into it, I realised that it’s a personality disorder along the same vein as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, and as such, merits compassion (even though the outer behaviour is hideous).
I’ve often pondered how it should be that my sibling and I were born into the same environment, same parents, same influences, and yet my sibling has Sun conjunct Saturn but I have Sun conjunct Jupiter (in Sagittarius).
It has made me wonder how one’s chart might reflect something of a person’s soul and how they react to their environment, rather than precisely describing the environment they were born into.
Then again I’ve wondered whether my parents could have been panic stricken and uptight when my sibling was born and then relaxed by the time I came along, and so I had an easier time of it.
And then again it’s also true that I am by nature a much more placid person than my sibling and so perhaps I experienced my father as more of a “teacher” than my sibling did, just because my father found me easier to teach!