(TRIGGER WARNING: THE EVENTS TALKED ABOUT BELOW ARE EXTREMELY DARK AND DISTURBING. PLEASE ONLY READ IF YOU HAVE A STURDY MIND. THESE ARE BRIEF ASTROLOGICAL VIGNETTES MEANT IN PART FOR ENTERTAINMENT BUT ALSO FOR EDUCATION. FULL CHART READINGS ARE LABORIOUS, SO THESE ARE TRUNCATED. IF YOU HAVE ANY OF THESE PLACEMENTS LIKE I DO, PLEASE DO NOT DESPAIR. THERE ARE MANY MANIFESTATIONS OF PLANETARY ALIGNMENTS, AND MANY ARE POSITIVE OR NEUTRAL.)
You’ve seen the meme going around. The one that tallies up infamous serial killers and their Sun signs. The result? A heap of mutable signs. Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces. I’m tired of the slander! Jokes aside, it does seem to perpetuate harmful stereotypes, especially for Gemini and Sagittarius (or Sagiterrorist as Twitter says—yikes) ,that there is something inherently dubious, untrustworthy or sinister about these signs. So here is a brief examination of all 12 signs, the infamous killers who belong to them, and the planetary conditions that can compel heinous acts. That’s right, murdering is equal-opportunity and doesn’t discriminate based on sign. Leggo!
Aries: Donald Harvey, born 4/15/1952. Killed 37-57 people while working as an orderly. Method: mostly poison. RX Mars in Scorpio square Pluto in Leo. Mars in the 8th, Pluto in the 5th. Poison, a rather passive way of killing someone, can belong to a RX Mars in Scorpio, and the perverse pleasure from such acts can belong to Pluto in the 5th. ASC ruled by this Mars, out of aspect to the ASC—suggesting a hidden, unwieldy martial nature. Tense aspects between Mars and Pluto can manifest…darkly. He also had Neptune opposite his Sun-Jupiter conjunction in the 1st. Neptune can destabilize the ego, create low self esteem, and produce disturbing fantasies, especially here with a sextile to Pluto. Uranus in the 4th in Cancer is the apex of a T-square, with the opposition between his Sun-Jupiter and Neptune, both of which square Uranus. Acting out in erratic and disturbing ways whilst taking care of people in a place they call home (Uranus-Cancer-4th). Harvey said he killed out of empathy, wanting to end others’ suffering, or out of anger. Jupiter conj Sun in the 1st in Aries can create a hot-head whose anger gets out of order (Jupiter expands) very fast. Harvey also had tense aspects from his Venus to his Moon and from his Venus and Mercury to Saturn. Unloved, a hardened love, loss of confidence. Moon in detriment in Capricorn.
Taurus: Albert Fish, born 5/19/1870. Killed 3, confirmed. A suspected 9-100 others. Method: variable, but sexual in nature. No time of birth and therefore no rising sign. Mars conjunct Pluto in Taurus. So we are sensing a Mars-Pluto theme. In the fleshy sign of Taurus, this conjunction unfortunately manifested as a fascination with genitals and sexual mutilation. Mars can be our sex drive, and Taurus is a carnal and physical sign, concerned with the body and physical pleasures. Pluto adds the darkness and obsession. Fish also mutilated himself, sticking several needles into his, uh, pelvic region. Mars in Taurus cuts into the flesh. Fish said that he felt God was compelling him to torture children. His Capricorn Moon was opposite his Uranus in Cancer, disturbed rationale on the idea of taking care of children. Here, Venus was also square the Moon, conjunct Neptune, and square Uranus. His prevailing sense of value and love was disillusioned by Neptune (feeling directed by God, a higher force) and completely abnormal (Venus sq Uranus). He was apparently nicknamed The Moon Maniac because he struck at night. Weirdly enough, the Moon exalts in Taurus. Not astrologically relevant but ironic.
Gemini: I feel like I should skip this re: the meme alluded to above. So many to choose from…
Uh—David, “Son of Sam” Berkowitz, born 6/1/1953. Killed 6. Method: stabbing and shooting. I know you’re wondering by now: what are Mars and Pluto doing in his chart? Well, they’re in a softer sextile, Mars in Gemini and Pluto in Leo. But Mars is conjunct Mercury in the 8th and trine Neptune in Libra in his 12th. He famously suggested that he was under the influence of a demon dog while at the time of the murders, feeling compelled to carry out these terrible acts because of this voice in his head. This is the seamless conversation of Mars (aggression) Mercury (your mental processing) and Neptune. He made up a fantastical lie, probably to be declared mentally incompetent. The 8th and 12th houses are also a fitting arena for stories of demons, possession, killing and other otherworldly phenomena. Berkowitz enjoyed the publicity he got from his crimes, perfect for an 8th house Gemini stellium and for a Leo MC. He also enjoyed writing letters to the police, taunting them. Gemini loves a cat and mouse game. Sadly, this was a disgusting one. He mostly victimized women, perhaps owing to a fallen Venus in Aries opposite his ascendant, Neptune and Saturn. This is also the 3rd serial killer in a row to have Moon square Venus, an infelt tension between his emotional gratification and the principle of femininity.
Cancer: Genene Jones, born 7/13/1950. Killed 2. A suspected 60 others. Method: poison. No birth time. Jones was a nurse in the pediatric unit of a hospital. And so yes, all of her victims were infants and children, fitting for a Cancer Sun. She also had her Moon, Mercury and Uranus in Cancer, with Uranus in a tight conjunction to her Moon. This goes without saying by now but pretty erratic emotional nature. Mars was conj Neptune in beauty-loving Libra, and Jones worked for a time as a beautician before becoming a nurse. This combination later ended up producing a woman who murdered (Mars) but injecting lethal amounts of drugs (Neptune) into her patients.
Leo: Luka Magnotta, born 7/24/1982. Killed 1 human, several animals. Method: suffocation, decapitation, severing and stabbing. No birth time. Subject of the new Netflix docu-series: Don’t Fuck With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer. Magnotta had Sun conjunct Mercury in attention-seeking Leo. He tried out for many reality shows, was a porn actor, and portrayed his life online as a jet-setting model and socialite. He had several fan pages on Facebook, with almost all the comments praising how beautiful he was. It later surfaced that he created all these fan pages, wrote all the comments, and doctored images with his face on other people’s bodies to give the illusion of a glamourous life (His Sun-Mercury conjunction is square boastful Jupiter). His Moon was in shy, calculated and sometimes cold Virgo, square Neptune, embedding within his emotional life a perverse kind of dreaming and wanting. His emotional nature was at odds with his Leo Sun, setting the ground for a person who needed to find attention in a less obvious way. Oh and yes, here he had a Mars-Pluto-Saturn conjunction in relationship oriented Libra, sextile his Neptune in Sagittarius. Mars and Pluto square his Sun—a magnetic, forceful, lustful, and aggressive personality, an ego bent on control and perverse desire. All 3 malefics in Libra show that relationships would never be easy for him, owing also to his Virgo Moon, which can view emotional satisfaction as a struggle. Magnotta uploaded videos on YouTube of him murdering kittens, never showing his face (Virgo). This is how he ended up filling the dark desire of his Leo Sun: he got A LOT of attention. Later on, he also uploaded a video of him killing a Chinese man studying abroad in Canada. He had Uranus trine his Sun-Mercury conjunction in Leo. That he used the Internet to display the attention-seeking needs of his Leo Sun is no surprise.
Virgo: Paul Bernardo, born 8/27/1964. Killed 4. Raped 13. Bernardo was known as The School Girl Killer which off the bat is an eerie coincidence for a Virgo Sun and Rising. If there is anything that conjures up the innocence and purity known (kind of stereotypically) for Virgo, it is the archetype of the school-girl. He has Mars exactly conjunct Venus in Cancer, and trine Neptune in Scorpio. His first rape was against his sister in law and aided by his wife. So, grossly, it was a family affair, the domain of Cancer. Neptune brought in the element of drugs and alcohol—Bernardo drugged his wife’s (Karla) little sister with rum and sleeping pills, and took advantage of her when she passed out. Mars conjunct Venus can indicate violence against women. But strangely, in Bernardo’s case, it also represented that he carried out many of his crimes with his wife by his side. This theme continued—where Karla would bait the victim and drug them, and Bernardo would assault them. Bernardo’s Mercury, Pluto and Uranus were involved in a tight conjunction in Virgo in the 1st, opposite Saturn in Pisces in his 7th. His identity to the world and within relationships was wrought with control, obsession, restriction, and darkness. He frequently boasted about his sexual prowess, experience and preferences—a signpost of compulsive Pluto defining the personality from the 1st. His wife Karla (Taurus) had the same Mars conjunct Venus aspect in her chart and Pluto conjunct Bernardo’s ascendant, fueling his sexual appetite. Bernardo’s Mars conjunct Venus fell in Karla’s 7th house of relationship. They also both had Moon in Aries conjunct, solidifying the sordid theme of Mars in both of their charts. This is the story of a fated relationship intertwined with the ominous themes of death, sexual gratification and predation.
Phew. I need a break. I need to drink water and dance to happy music. It is late and writing this is hard on my heart. But what do you think? Should I continue with the last 6 signs?
Thanks for reading.