Erin Patterson

Erin Patterson is an Australian woman convicted of murder for the deliberate poisoning of members of her family. On 29 July 2023 she served a beef Wellington laced with Amanita phalloides, the death cap mushroom, at her home in Leongatha, Victoria. Three guests died: her parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson. A fourth, pastor Ian Wilkinson, survived after weeks in hospital. The premeditation, the sourced and dried mushrooms, and the disposal of the dehydrator mark this as calculated killing, not misfortune.

Her chart carries a Libra Sun, the archetype of the scale, of fairness, charm and the diplomatic mediator, and a Pisces Moon, ordinarily the empath's sensitive, compassionate water. It must be said plainly that a natal signature describes only temperament and inclination; it never causes, predicts or excuses a person's choices, and nothing in these placements condones what was done. Read analytically, the contrast is stark: the sociable Libra surface and the fluid Pisces interior, which in its shadow tends toward deception and self-serving evasion, stand against the cold reality of three lives taken by her hand. The chart explains nothing. The responsibility is entirely her own.