The Astrology of the Goonies (Part 1: Introduction)

Capricorn is the sign that talks about “legacy of the family name” (as the sign that rules the family tree, specifically the father’s side of the family whose last name is traditionally public-facing). So, when we are introduced to the Fratelli crime family in an open heist against the Police Department to break their child from jail, we are witnessing two major but different expressions of Capricorn in battle with each other, as the Aquarius expression takes advantage of the chaos to free himself.

We see our first expression of Mars “exalted” in Capricorn when Francis Fratelli uses a gun to shoot the circle of gasoline poured around the perimeter of the jail in order to create a wall of fire, trapping the Police officers inside of the Jail to secure a hasty getaway. Mars is “exalted” in Capricorn for many reasons. Weapons & use of force are needed for any organized criminal operation to be successful, but also fire is a great way to deter someone or to create a boundary. Mars “exalted” in Capricorn is a “firewall” protection, with Capricorn/Saturn ruling physical barriers/walls/boundaries and Mars ruling fire.

As the Fratellis swerve off, and the high speed police chase begins, we see them drive past the high school where cheer practice is going on. This is where we are introduced to Andy, who is the representation of the Venus archetype. In Astrology, Aries (ruled by Mars) is the sign that rules athletic competition. The opposite sign, Libra (ruled by Venus) is the sign that rules support and assistance. It’s the sign of the partner, the helper, the people pleaser, and can be viewed like the “cheerleader.”

Not only are cheerleaders responsible for encouraging the “main” athletes, but being a cheerleader takes athleticism in and of itself. This is the perfect example of Libra as not only the opposition of Aries, but as their feminine reflection. The balance required to do impressive cheer stunts is of Libra nature, despite it still being incredibly challenging and competitive.

Venus rules all music, song, dance, choreography, as well as harmony + balance. We really see the Libra expression of Venus being expressed as the cheer team works to balance on each other’s backs to create the cheer pyramid without toppling over, while Andy directs their visual choreography and manages the boombox.

We see our first introduction to Mercury, in its Virgo expression, as the police chase flashes past Rosalita, the housekeeper, who is on her way to work at Mikey’s house. Virgo is the sign that rules service, employment/day jobs, and more specifically the task of cleaning.

Mercury is also the planet that rules language and language exchange. Rosalita’s inability to speak English plays a major role in her storyline (especially with “Mouth,” the character who represents the Gemini expression of Mercury). Gemini can be viewed as a simple exchange of language, Virgo like a complicated exchange of many different languages.

Next, we’re introduced to “Mouth,” the Gemini expression of Mercury. We see a hint of Mercurial energy in this very short introduction to Mouth when one of two lines is said by his father, who exclaims, “turn that TV off! I can’t hear myself think!” Mercury is the planet that rules thinking, since Gemini rules your brain/nervous system.

Mouth replies, “yeah right,” and then he turns the TV off, but the sound of police sirens continues to wail. It wasn’t the TV, but actually the Fratelli police chase happening outside his window. Mind tricks are ruled by Mercury, and the fact that Mouth’s father thought the sirens were coming from the TV…it was simply his own mind playing tricks on him.

The police chase then continues in hot pursuit down towards the shore and onto the docks. They speed past Stef, who is fishing for crabs in a barrel. Stef is representative of the Cancer archetype, or “the crab,” ruled by the Moon. She takes care of everyone, exhibits “tough love,” and creates a shell for herself using sarcasm as a defense mechanism even though she is a big sap on the inside. This explicit use of crab symbolism by Spielberg is really what confirmed to me that the Goonies were specifically based on Zodiac archetypes.

Further down the dock, we are introduced to another expression of Saturn/Uranus/Aquarius in the form of Data, the inventor. Saturn rules all advanced science, math, data analysis, systems, inventions, and technology. Capricorn represents the existing systems and traditional technology that has been integrated into society. Aquarius represents the creation of new systems and inventing new ways of doing things.

Aquarius is ruled by Saturn, who can be viewed as “the inventor” or scientist (think “Dr. Frankenstein”). In modern Astrology, Aquarius is ruled by Uranus, who can be viewed as the “invention” or the creation itself (the “Frankenstein monster”).

We witness Data attempt to use an invention to pull an empty barrel closer to him, but what he doesn’t realize is the barrel is chained to the dock (Saturn rules chains). When that chain is pulled taught, Data’s invention continues to work exactly as it is designed to work, just not how he expected it to. The invention ended up “failing” due to the external factors that Data failed to consider.

This is an expression of the “inversion” of the roles of Saturn and Uranus, where the invention takes over control and causes chaos, leaving Data in shock and unable to maintain his grounded footing (causing him to fall face first into the barrel instead). This is a perfect example of Uranus and the “shock” factor associated with Aquarius and the invention process in general. Results may vary. Expect the unexpected.

While Data may have been disappointed that his invention didn’t work out how he anticipated, the audience can fully see that this was actually a blessing in disguise. While Data is submerged head-first in the barrel, the Fratellis and the police following them charge directly over the exact spot Data was just standing. If his invention had been “successful” by his own standards, he would have most likely died or at the very least been seriously injured.

This is a reminder that Saturn puts obstacles in our path, and though our limited perspective doesn’t always allow us to see the reason for these obstacles, there is always a good reason. What feels like failure is just delayed success–the orchestration of divine timing on levels we can’t even imagine. Rejection is just divine protection.

Next, we are introduced to Chunk, who represents the Jupiter archetype. Jupiter is the planet that rules largeness or chunkiness, excess, abundance, overconsumption and overflow. Chunk is the largest of the children, who is constantly eating and being taunted for his size/excessive eating habits.

As he is playing video games and eating pizza, he notices the Fratelli-police chase whip past the window of the arcade. He is enamored by the scene and runs to the window to watch, accidentally pressing his pizza and milkshake up against the glass causing it to overflow, a keyword for Jupiter.

It’s also worth noting that up until this point, Chunk is the only child to notice the police chase. Jupiter is the planet responsible for “zooming out” and seeing the greater picture–really expanding your consciousness enough to have the perspective others don’t. Chunk is the only child who sees something in his peripheral vision and decides to actually investigate it (Sagittarius expression of Jupiter), which grants him a higher level of wisdom and gives him access to information that remained veiled/obscured to everyone else (Pisces expression of Jupiter). We see this reiterated later in the story when Chunk is the only person who knows about the Fratellis and how dangerous they actually are.

The next Goonie we meet is Brand, who is the representation of the Aries (ruled by Mars) archetype. Mars is the athlete, the strength trainer, the fighter, and rules the color red. We see Brand exercising his muscles in a red bandana: a clear expression of Martian energy.

In a [possibly deleted] scene in the gas station, we witness Brand confront Troy for bullying his brother, saying, “Nobody hits my brother except for me.” Mars is the planet that rules both violence and confrontation, meaning Brand “squaring up” emphasizes his Martian qualities (the “square” aspect is associated with Mars and conflict).

In the same scene we see Troy as an expression of the Sun, who is “daddy’s little boy,” whining about how he’s going to get his father to handle them. Both Leo (ruled by the Sun, the “Son”) and Capricorn (ruled by Saturn, the “Father”) are connected to elitist + patriarchal mindsets. Leo is connected to hierarchy, royalty, entitlement, and popularity; while Capricorn is connected to reputation, immense wealth, and oppressive systems that keep “hierarchy” in place. Troy calls the Goonies trash while his Father attempts to get them evicted so he can build a golf course: a perfect example of this Sun-Saturn theme of elitism, entitlement, and classism. “You’re looking at the richest people in Astoria.”

We also see Mikey, Brand’s younger brother (the main protagonist of the film) introduced as Mars, only he is the Scorpio expression of Mars instead of the Aries expression of Mars. He tells a spooky story, the tale of one-eyed-Willy: a pirate who caused an entire naval war by stealing treasure. One-eyed-Willy’s ship, the Inferno, was met with a fleet of cannons; from which Willy fled to avoid a near-certain death. After escaping into a cave, the British armada blew in the walls of the cave to trap him and bury him alive.

Scorpio is the sign that rules “buried treasure” (and death/being buried alive), underground wealth, or any wealth that is hidden away (offshore accounting). Mars is the planet that rules war, violence, and “the hunt.” In its Scorpio expression, Mars is hunting for treasure, since this is the sign opposite Taurus, which rules money/valuable possessions. Taurus rules the things you have, Scorpio rules the things you have had stolen from you (or the things you don’t have so you’re forced to steal/borrow from others).

In spiritual Astrology, Scorpio’s rulership of all things “underground” includes the Underworld which in part contains the realm of purification via fire, also known as the Inferno–the name of Willy’s ship. Scorpio, being the water expression of Mars, is the ruler of purification (water) via fire (Mars), as well as naval (water) military conflict (Mars) such as the cannon warfare experienced by One-eyed-Willy.

As a film about a hunt for buried treasure, the nature of “The Goonies” is inherently Scorpionic. Scorpio rules debt, external financing and bank loans, and refinancing/repossession of assets like the foreclosure of a home. We see almost all of the themes of Scorpio play out as they face unseen dangers, trek through underground caves, fight off enemies trying to kill them, and eventually find the buried treasure, cancel out their debt, and succeed in preventing repossession of their homes by the bank. Explore the rest of the film and the Astrology archetypes in the rest of this Goonies Deep-Dive.