Article by Joni Patry

James Holmes was the perpetrator of a violent massacre killing 14 and wounding 50 innocent viewers at the movie showing of Batman around midnight on July 20, 2012 in Aurora Colorado. He was planning his attack for some time for he had acquired many weapons and explosives, plus went to great lengths to rig his apartment with booby traps full of explosives. What could cause someone to be so outraged to stage such a violent plan of attack, or what causes the mind to become so violently unbalanced?

How to View the Mind

Moon, 4th and 5th Houses

The most significant points in a chart that represent the mind are the Moon and the 4^th and 5^th house. So to see what causes a mind to be this troubled we must take a deep look into these components of a person.

With Cancer Ascendant the Moon is the ruler of the chart and is placed in the 3^rd house with Ketu, in Virgo. The Moon with Ketu has a different outlook on life for they are very introspective and feel that they are different. In critical scrutinizing, Virgo reality is viewed in a way that is different, always analyzing, and dissecting everything. I want to point out that the 3^rd house is profoundly deep with a sense of introspection; for it is the 8^th house from the 8^th house, meaning it has a profound 8^th house quality of psycho analysis, transformative and interest in hidden matters particularly surrounding death.

The 4th house is relative to the 4th sign and Cancer in the natural zodiac, therefore it becomes the house that represents the depth of the mind. This is the house of happiness which means happiness comes from a sense of who we are. The 4^th house is our soul, heritage, roots and foundation, our sense of protection, nurturing, security and love. All this is perceived through our emotional connection to the past, and forming our beliefs of who we are today. The 4^th house is a water house or Moksha house. The Moksha houses are 4, 8 and 12, which bring liberation from the world. This is achieved through the process of feelings experienced through love.

The Moon is the receiver of the Sun’s light and reflects the light back to earth. The 4^th house pertains to the heart as in receiving love or feeling loved. The 5^th house also rules the heart but is about giving love. The 5^th house is about expression and creativity. The Sun rules the 5^th sign Leo relative to the 5^th house. The Sun is the giver of life and is the ability to give and express love. The 4^th house is the house of happiness for this is about love, and sadness concerning the loss of love, feeling unloved and rejected.

The Moon is a reflection of the past and Cancer is the sign most associated with the past. The 4^th house, Moon and Cancer are indicators of the past and sometimes too much energy here can cause people to be stuck in the past. And when stuck in the past you don’t allow yourself to have a future. Looking in the rear view mirror will only result in a wreck, or wrecked life. Not being able to process past events and move forward will create resentments, which prevent growth and healing.

When malefic planets are in the 4^th house the ability to receive and experience love are blocked. James Holmes’ Mars is a problematic planet in the 4^th house strongly indicating issues around love. Mars is the planet of anger and war. He did not feel a sense of security, protection and could not feel love. Resentments around his insecurities built and mounted into explosive issues of anger.

Mars in Libra can be very passive aggressive, but within 2 degrees of Pluto can make it explosive. Pluto is the planet of deep emotions and rules atomic energy. As these explosive emotions are repressed in the darkness of the 4^th house they can build to catastrophic proportions. The 4^th house is the bottom of the chart, or the midnight of the chart. It can be buried and hidden from view but it will have an explosive effect for it is a house of power being an angle or Kendra. Interestingly enough, this house is the focal point of many mass murderers.

Venus ruler of the 4^th house and dispositor of Mars is in the 6^th house of difficulty and struggles conjunct Neptune and Uranus. Neptune and Uranus can indicate delusions that are surfaced with sudden and violent behavior.

Sun ruler of the 2^nd house is conjunct Saturn indicating a rough childhood. This adds to the difficulty seen from a lack of security early on. The rulers of the 8^th and 12^th houses (dusthana houses of most difficulty) are combined in the 5^th house of the mind. Saturn rules the 8^th house and Mercury rules the 12^th house. These are both difficult planets for a Cancer ascendant.

The 5^th house is seen as the mind in terms of being able to understand complex concepts. His Saturn is two degrees from the Sun and close to Mercury casting a serious and solemn mood. Saturn conjunct the Sun usually has a direct influence on low self-confidence. But the reference point of these 5^th house planets is Mars because it is the dispositor of these three planets being in Scorpio. This means Mars is the basis of how these planets operate.

The Moon, which so deeply influences the mind, is closely conjunct Ketu. Jupiter is with Rahu in Pisces in opposition to the Moon. Jupiter in Pisces (rulership) gives this planet a profound intensity. And it is also stationary direct. This intensifies the energy of Jupiter even more. As Jupiter is in the 9^th house it gives an aptitude to higher education and spirituality, and it cast aspect to his 5^th house planets Mercury, Sun and Saturn. He was known to be highly educated and intelligent for he dropped out of one of the nation’s most prestigious neuroscience PhD programs just weeks before his alleged shooting rampage.

These planets did produce his marked intelligence and education but Mars conjunct Pluto in the 4^th house, and Moon conjunct Ketu disrupt and disturb his life based on his emotional issues.

Divisional Charts

To make more sense of his chart and perceive the deep inter dimensions, the divisional charts reveal the soul and consciousness. Volumes can be written on the divisional charts but I will attempt to glean a glimpse through them. Mars is the planet that becomes entrenched in mental anguish surfacing rage and anger.

Navamsha (D9) Mars is tightly conjunct Saturn with Sun and Pluto in Pisces. Notice that Mars is at 25 degrees and Saturn at 27 degrees are conjunct his natal Jupiter.

Dashamsha (D10) Mars is conjunct Saturn, Mars is exactly conjunct Neptune at 14 degrees Aries.

Charturthamsha (D4) Mars is conjunct Pluto in Aries.

Dwadashamsha (D12) Mars is conjunct Neptune and Pluto.

From this brief look at the divisional charts, his Mars is deeply disturbed and can trigger an unhealthy reaction to the world.

Looking back to his natal chart, Mars conjunct Pluto has very deep implications of violence. The 4^th house being a Kendra /Angle gives it a sense of power. The fact that Mars aspects the 10^th house and rules the 10^th (Aries) intensifies the possibility of public recognition or fame but with infamous negative recognition of his anger and violent actions.

Prediction: Transits and Dashas

But what caused him to plan this violent outbreak at the time he did? What was activated on that day of July 20^th 12:35 am in Aurora, Colorado?

The transiting aspect that was exact on that day was violent Mars and Uranus in exact opposition at 14 degrees. Mars was in Virgo and Uranus in Pisces and both squared Pluto.

But what was the transit that was in exact aspect to his natal birth chart? It was transiting Saturn in full aspect to his natal Saturn. Saturn’s 3^rd aspect is 100% in power. Transiting Saturn was 29 degrees Virgo and natal Saturn 29 Scorpio. There are many aspects that are in orb at this time but not exact. These come into consideration but the exact transits site the day of the event.

Influences at this time are transiting Rahu in Scorpio activating his 5^th house and Mercury, Sun and Saturn. Transiting Saturn and Mars are in his 3^rd house influencing his Moon/Ketu (Sate Sati, a very difficult time). Additionally, transiting Saturn is opposing his natal Jupiter causing a sense of oppression. This may have involved his difficulties surrounding his strenuous doctorate program for the 3^rd and 9^th house are about education.

Vimshottari Dasha

His current Maha dasha ruler is Rahu and the bhukti is Saturn. Therefore the fact that transiting Saturn is fully aspecting natal Saturn is significant because it activates the bhukti dasha ruling planet, Saturn. Being in a dasha activates the dasha ruling planet as it transits in the sky and as its natal placement. I believe the bhukti plays out more than any dasha ruling planet. This makes this transit of Saturn more specific to his chart than any other transit. Furthermore, the root or cause reaction of a transit can always be seen by the dispositor, which is Mars because Saturn is in Scorpio. His Mars with Pluto are the reason for his reactions and in the 4^th house make it explosive from the root or core of his being.

Navamsha Chart

The navamsha chart reveals the evolvement of our being as to what we become in life. His Saturn and Mars are activated by his dashas. And if you transpose his birth chart into the navamsha chart, his 3^rd house becomes the 8^th house. The transiting planets of violence both Mars, Saturn and Uranus in Virgo activate his navamsha planets in the 2^nd house by opposition in Pisces, Saturn, Mars, Sun and Pluto.

Anger and Victims: Pisces

The real reason to try to understand the inner workings of a madman (acts out their anger violently) is to understand what makes them react in such as way so that we can help eliminate these horrific events from occurring again. Through addressing and understanding issues we can attempt to resolve them.

These core issues beneath the intense anger reduce to issues of being a victim, as planets in Pisces represent. His natal Jupiter and Rahu exemplify his beliefs in the 9^th house (house of beliefs), and in a morbidly delusional way he righteously believes he is the victim and a martyr for the world. For historically Pisces is a part of the savior and victim image. This can be used for higher good but is misconstrued with intense distorted issues of anger. Charts of others with this warped sense of reality are Timothy McVeigh, Marshall Applewhite, Jim Jones, David Karesh, and Charles Whitman. All who were involved in mass murders or death in some way and all have specific Pisces and Virgo planets. They have a sense of importance and self-grandeur with delusional beliefs they feel need to be enforced to the world. From a low level of rage and anger there is a feeling of being a victim and their actions are somehow justified, so there is the bizarre distorted sense of being a martyr. Victims with bottled up rage ultimately use violence to bring their point and message to the world.

About Author : Joni has been a practicing astrologer and teacher for over 30 years, and founder of the “Galactic Center” in Dallas. She has been an online Vedic Instructor for the Online College, for the American College of Vedic Astrology’s Online program, is a faculty member for ACVA (American Council of Vedic Astrology), and served as the executive secretary for CVA (Council of Vedic Astrology), where she published and distributed the International CVA Journal. As a writer, she has published three books and many articles and research in Vedic astrology. Her book Eastern Astrology for Western Minds is a complete manual of Vedic astrology. Joni has organized international symposiums and is often a keynote speaker for national and international conferences. She has been on national television and radio programs as an authority on both Western and Vedic astrology. Her clientele includes the Who’s Who of America, including Hollywood celebrities. Her web site, www.galacticcenter.org , has a good deal of information for all students of astrology. She can be contacted at joni@galacticcenter.org

Inside the Mind of a Madman by Joni Patry