Solunars by Aldebaran Sidereal Academy

Aug 05, 2012

Matthew Quellas just sent along the birth certificate information on the Aurora, CO "Dark Knight" murderer, James Holmes.

James Eagan Holmes
December 13, 1987 9:04 pm
La Jolla, CA

The horoscope is fierce. The Mars-Pluto conjunction (which we knew about from the untimed data) is exactly on the IC. Here is the chart.



Because of some recent interested here in the subject, I'll mention that, at his birth, the star Vega was setting exactly. Do I know what this means? No, I don't. But since the calculations for this a bit cumbersome without computer support, I wanted to mention it for those interested.

The best information I have so far gives the time when the shooting began as:

July 20, 2012
0:34 MDT
Aurora, CO

At that moment, Saturn was exactly on the Westpoint.

Partile transits to Holmes' natal horoscope include:
t. Pluto conj. r. Neptune 17'
t. Mercury sq. r. Pluto 21'
t. Moon sq. r. Pluto 54'
t. Midheaven conj. r. Venus 5', sq. r. Jupiter 20'
(The latter depends on the accuracy of the timing of the shooting, based on the available report.)

His local Descendant for Aurora, CO is 6 AQU 19, placing t. Neptune just outside a partile orb of the angle.

Secondary Progressions include the following partile aspects:

p. Moon trine p. Uranus, 34' ap., r. Uranus 54' sep.
p. Mercury semi-sextile p. Saturn, 13' ap.
p. Venus sextile p. Jupiter, 18' ap. (replicating an important natal aspect)
p. Mars sextile r. Moon 15' ap.

His Sidereal Solar Return occured December 14, 2011, at 2:44:31 AM, and is cast for Aurora, CO. It's not a chart with obvious symbolism for this sort of event. It's dominated by his natal Venus-Jupiter square plus transiting Venus. (This aspect is emerging as a very significant factor in the psychology of this event, but it's silly to use it as a basis for validating the event charts.)

There were no significant transits to his SSR for the event. It may be worth noting, though, that the Mon was only 5 degrees past its SSR 'natal' position, so we'll want to check the Anlunar before we're done.

The Demi-Solar (June 12) is much more striking, at least painting the picture that something beraking-through and life-changing would occur. Notice:

MC 14 Pis 59
Uranus 13 Pis 15

EP 13 Gem 27
Pluto 13 Sag 46
Mercury 14 Gem 46

And his natal Neptune is 12 SAG 33. The Moon at 10 PIS 04 is reasonably close to the above T-square.

His SLR for June 26 is a splendidly happy chart. Transiting Venus is at the Midheaven, suppoted by Jupiter.

But his Demi-Lunar for July 9 gives much the same message as the Demi-Solar: The Uranus-Pluto square is exactly on the angles. A Moon-Mars opposition is broadly in the foreground. Saturn is on the Nadir.

And at the time of the shooting, Mars at 14 VIR 16 had just crossed the SLR IC of 13 VIR 26.

The Demi-KLR of July 6 had progressed Mars rising squared by the Moon and by transiting Neptune (which exactly squared the Ascendant). But Jupiter was also pretty foreground.

The SAR occurred only a few hours before the event. Neptune is exactly on the IC, square s. Mercury on the EP. This is one of several factors suggesting to me that we will still find that he was mentally unstable to the point of psychosis at the time of the shooting.

The Quotidian (SNQ) fom of his (Q2) secondary progressed chart shows.. nothing at all, really. The right planets are all nearby, but not right at the angles. Ditto for the Q1 and SQ.

At least, for the angles. But the SQ progessed Moon at 18 CAN 58 was square his natal Mars at 18 LIB 38 and his natal MC at 18 LIB 57.

EDIT (3:26 PM): I've now had time to do that PSSR as well. Damn it all if the EP isn't 26 GEM 12, bringing natal Venus to within a degree of the angle! Transiting Saturn is also 23' from the PSSR IC, measured in Right Ascension (though 83' minutes away in longitude - the mundane measure is generally more accurate). SSR Moon is within a degree of the Ascendant by ecliptical measurement, though not quite as close mundanely (so we can't exactly call it a paran to Saturn).

[Details: SSR Moon at 11 CAN 03 rises in Aurora when the Ascendant was 13 CAN 12. The PSSR Ascendant was 11 CAN 46. Transiting Saturn at 28 VIR 21 crosses the IC when that angle is 29 VIR 20. The PSSR IC was 29 VIR 44.]

PSSR Vx conjoined PSSR Sun within 20' (and natal Sun within 26' the other direction). I mention this separately, since I've previously said I don't think the Vertex has much importance in quotidians, so I don't want to "make a case" with it.

EDIT 3:43 PM: While I had the PSSR calculations up, I decided to check the Neo-SQ. (This calculation is automatic in my PSSR spreadsheet. Generally I don't find this Apparent Solar Rate techique to be anywhere near as descriptive as the Mean Solar Rate SQ, but I thought it worth checking, especially since the [mean rate] SQ didn't show anything on the angles. The Neo-SQ doesn't show anything on the angles either, and the Moon at 19 CAN 03 is slightly farther from the natal Mars and MC "hits" than the mean rate SQ. Again, the mean rate gets the point for greater precision (by a hair). It was the PSSR that took kudos for angular precision.

That's amazing, Steve, for the following reason: I almost never work with converse (mostly because I don't need to), but, as I was going off to bed after making the prior posts, it went through my mind, "Hm, I wonder if I should look at converse for him."

So I'm intrigued.

I'll come back and make some general observations about the above later.

So, before going off into the Converse direction (lol), I want to summarize what I'm seeing in these charts overall.

The nativity is extremely lucid! (More below.) The period analysis charts, though, are not what you'd call a "Sidereal showpiece" - or, for that matter, an astrological showpiece in general. That is, if we're looking for a smashingly good example of, "See how brilliantly this stuff works!", we wouldn't use these charts. In terms of pure, simple symbolism of the usual sort (the thing we pride ourselves on with Sidereal techniques), this is a terrible example.

However, coming from the place that we already know these techniques work (and no single case proves or disproves anything) - and admitting that we don't necessarily understand Holmes' motives or his psychological state (and that there may well have been abnormal psychological factors, even psychosis, operating) - this is a fantastic example to study and see what we can learn. That is (since we know this stuff works), what can we learn about his state of mind?

I tried rectifying his chart earlier, focussing on placing his Mars-Pluto conjunction on return chart angles. Nothing came up that satisfied me. I proposed a "take a look at this" time, but wasn't sold on it. In fact, the state of mind shown by the different charts are quite different from a simple violence event. No, James Holmes was attending the best party he'd ever been to in his life!

FIRST, THE NATAL. This shows exactly what we'd expect to see. It shows an intellectually brilliant and characterologically violent individual, with very strong social needs that were likely to be fiercely frustrated by his life.

He has a Scorpio Sun. No, most Scorpio's aren't killers, but Scorpio men are especially competitive, driven, with strong Mars urges. That Sun is middleground and closely conjunct Saturn. That kind of "compression" of Mars impulses doesn't make a killer, either, but it does show a trending toward "energy under containment," a bit of pressure cooker. Even this is ameliorated for the most part (pressure eased up) by the Sun's slightly wider trine to a background but dignified Jupiter: He could take pleasure and comfort in the kind of contained, disciplined, perhaps a little obsessive pushing of his high psychological energies. By itself, this could be a good mark of success.

The Moon is in Virgo, closely square Uranus. He was a neuroscience student who had graduated with honors, then academically collapsed when he moved away and went to grad school. There is so much to see in this Moon-Uranus aspect (especially with the Virgo Moon)! It shows great curiosity, a kind of intellectual genius especially in a technical direction, but also the eventual tendency to lose interest or lose focus as wide-ranging curiosities took him every sort of diretion. The aspect also has been linked (by Ebertin) to schizophrenia, but it obviously isn't diagnostic of schizophrenia by itself. At the least, we can say that it is prone to highly atypical mental and emotional states (whether healthy or unhealthy): seeing and feeling and reasoning along different lines than most people would go.

My current, standard pre-written interpretation of Moon-Uranus reads: "A specie of genius (intellectually rebellious, roving, curious, investigative) is bursting to express itself – not wholly comfortable accepting outside guidance, often wondering why others don’t recognize its nature. Inquisitive, original, futuristic, seeking novelty & needing variety (“will try anything twice”). Free-spirited: psychologically lives outside of convention; but subject to tensions and stiffness from emotional stress." Draw your own conclusions.

He has a close Mars-Pluto conjunction, and it's exactly on the angles. In simple terms, he has powerful psychological energies of a rather primitive type (which, however, often can be directed to very positive effect), with a strong need to explode or dramatically burst them out into the open. This doesn't always make for a generally violent temperament. (In fact, it usually doesn't.) Mars-Pluto people are often routinely gentle. They are prone to suppression of accumulating rage that becomes hard to contain. I'd expect that "sitting on it" less with the Mars-Pluto right on the angles: I'd expect that he'd have routine avenues in his life where he felt he had the opportunity to sufficiently express this (sexual, athletic, general competition).

Added to the Scorpio Sun conjunct Saturn, this does clearly point to a violence-prone individual, i.e., someone with a distinct potential to violence if he didn't have ready, acceptable ways to express those powerful forces.

Though one never "loses" the natal pattern in relocation, I find it very interesting that, while getting his undergrad degree near his birthplace, he was able to compete, thrive, and succeed in a demanding program - presumably using these traits to graduate with honors. I know nothing about his athletic or sexual involvements, but the intellectual competitiveness (if driven, a little obsessive, highly focussed, and competitively attaining) would have been sufficient. But, once he moved away from the birthplace (moving the Mars-Pluto off the local angles), he failed to compete effectively, failed in his academics overall (presumably from distraction or lack of application), and a different behavior pattern found new ways to explode.

There are strong parental dynamics in the chart. I won't dwell on these, but will observe them briefly. The Mars-Pluto conjunction is on the IC. I would expect the rage and explosive build-up to be related somehow to his relationship with his father. The Moon-Uranus square is on the Vertex system, with the Moon being specifially on the Northpoint. I suspect we will discover that these patterns are more intimately connected to his relationship with his mother.

A bit more about the Mars-Pluto aspect: I have found, in cases known to me, a recurring pattern that seems to speak to Holmes directly. People with strong Mars-Pluto aspects are more or less "outside the norm" on social patterning. Those who are doing well with their lives show a mark of genius and distinctive creativity, seem gentle but energetic, acutely alive but with a quiet energy. Those who are not doing well in their lives, however, are a kind of trouble: I am sure that they do not consciously think of themselves as pot-stirrers in general, but they are like social bulls in a china shop, or at least can't seem to avoid "breaking" or upsetting something around them. THE KEY THAT DIFFERENTIATES THE TWO GROUPS IS A PRODUCTIVE, ON-TRACK LIFE. I suppose the key is that Mars-Pluto people really need to have something to which they are committed, into which they are pouring their energies with focus and passion.

The other important factor in his chart - one worth a great deal of attention because it has subtleties most students don't notice - is his partile (15') Venus-Jupiter square. It is made stronger because Venus is in Sagittarius (Jupiter's sign), and Jupiter is dignified. But the square is in the immediate background of the chart. The simple, consistent interpretation of close hard aspects in the immediate background is that they represent powerful psychological urges which, however, the person feels they never have the opportunity to express - that they are blocked, resisted, overlooked, denied. I don't know anything about the facts of Holmes' social life, his mix of friends, whether he mingled with people or dated etc. I do know, however, from this one aspect, that he has powerful, driving needs for social connection, to be integrated into a social group, to be liked and admired and esteemed - the whole gamut of social connection needs - and that he has felt most of his life that this was denied him.

This is one of the most critical things to know about him. I am certain that it explains what happened on July 20. It's the lifelong setup. The fact that all of the dominant factors in his chart can be regarded as antisocial - a Scorpio Sun made more autonomous and distant by its conjunction with Saturn, the Moon-Uranus square, the foreground close Mars-Pluto conjunction - certainly shows which way he tipped things. He would certainly have been driven to be more antisocial by perceiving a failure or lack of opportunity or denial in his powerful social needs; and, reciprocally, his powerful, potentially antisocial other characteristics would have alienated him from more people on a simple social level. This is the main tension in the horoscope, the one most likely to drive his character over time.


THE EVENT CHARTS. It was ALL about Venus-Jupiter. Anything else was bubblewrap necessary to "deliver the [characterological] package securely to its destination.

His natal chart has a 15' Venus-Jupiter square, background.

His secondary progressions had Venus exactly one sign advanced, so that progressed Venus square natal Jupiter was the "main event," actualizing his natal aspect (and supported by the weaker aspect of progressed Venus semisextile natal Venus).

His Sidereal Solar Return had his natal Venus-Jupiter aspect on the angles, supported by transiting Venus.

His Sideral Lunar Return had transiting Venus exactly angular, and transiting Jupiter nearby. (Transiting planets: That is, the rest of the world "outside" him was echoing what he'd longingly vibrated from "inside.")

His PSSR had natal Venus within a degree of an angle, pinpointing the day.

At the exact time he pulled the trigger, his natal Venus was minutes (less than a minute of time!) from the Midheaven, bringing his Venus-Jupiter aspect exactly to fulfillment.

This dude was, in that minute, at the bestest, coolest, happiest party he'd ever been to in his whole life! AND HE CAME OUT OF IT AS A CELEBRITY.


SUPPORTING PREDICTIVE CHARTS: Other pieces of the predictive puzzle show other details. I just wanted to filter out the above first, showing how the A+ List of charts - natal, secondary progressions, SSR, SLR, event chart - all exactly nailed the same symbolism, making the message unambiguous.But let's summarize the rest.

Transits: He also had Pluto to his Neptune (which we all pass through, and it shakes up and reorients our way or looking at and thinking about things), and the only involvement of his natal Mars-Pluto, i.e., the exact Moon-Mercury aspect transiting in square to the Pluto. (Ah, the publicity!)

Progressions: His natal Moon-Uranus was reiterated by a progressed Moon-Uranus (keywords include sudden, tension, innovative and clever, surprising, etc.). Mercury-Saturn shows some frustration (his bad year in school had mostly been with this building: I had a similar bad year in my own life under sinilar aspects). Mars-to-Moon is the one violent aspect here. Mostly, I read the set as various kinds of tensions, frustrations, and irritations.

Demi-Solar Return: Brought a Mercury-Uranus-Pluto T-square to the angles, on his natal Neptune (and with DSSR Moon nearby). Similar aspects have been known to trigger a psychotic break. At the very list, "Think Different" was more than an Apple ad in his life for the prior month or so.

Demi-Lunar Return: Also brought the Uranus-Pluto to the angles. Added a peripherally foreground Moon-Mars opposition, which setup Mars' transit of the DSLR IC in the 24 hours leading up to the shooting.

Solar Quotidian: The progression of the Solar Return matured an exact Moon square to his natal Mars (and, even more exactly, to his natal MC-IC).

PSSR: Added transiting Saturn to the angle along with natal Venus.

Demi-Kinetic Lunar Return: Mars rising squared by Moon and Neptune (with Neptune strongest), and also a foreground Jupiter. Another violent, extreme aspect, and yet with a mark of happiness, success, receiving esteem.

Sidereal Anlunar Return: Occurring just a few hours before the event had Neptune on the IC square SSR Mercury. "Imagination and sensation boggle the intellect. Communication and perceptual confusion from acutely sensitive senses. Fantasy blurs with fact. Judgment errors, poor logic, misplaced emphasis, easily misunderstood. Imaginative, intuitive, creative." Draw your own conclusions.

These were triggers. But they were only triggers. The most important things to see are in the natal chart, and in the ascending crescendo of Venus-Jupiter aspects.

So, whatabout those converse charts, hm?

Alexander Marr and others (including Roy Firebrace) did some magnificient work with converse charts in Spica. I'm generally sold on the technique, but rarely consult it because it doubles the total amount of things available to us, and the main techniques work so well that they aren't needed. But it's worth taking a peek now and then to remind ourselves of the complexities of time.

Converse transits can be justified in principle on the idea that time flows equally in more than one direction. Personally, I'm more intrigued (and think it takes even less stretching the bounds of things) to see a different (or additonal) theory for converse transits: What if transits don't at all work on the basis of "the planets are out there, right now, in those positions." Suppose instead that transits are only one more form of progressed chart! - but at the rate of "a day for a day." Progression rates flowing in two directions require even less substantiation from advanced physics.

Regardless, our method is empirical. Let's see what's shown.

Holmes' converse transits for the time of the shooting are shown by a chart with the following salient features (note that transit-to-transit aspects have the effect of progressions, being personally significant, because the converse transits are unique to each individual in a given monent):

c. Venus trine c. Mars 23'
c. Sun square c. Mars 37'
c. Mercury square c. Uranus 43'
c. Jupiter semisquare c. Saturn 23'
c. Moon square c. Saturn 8'
c. Moon sesquisquare c. Jupiter 31'

That converse transiting Mars at 24 CAN 12 (squared by c. Sun at 23 ARI 35) was 2' (2'!!!) from his natal Ascendant. The converse transiting Neptune at 19 LIB 59 as 62' past his natal IC (not quite in orb unless his birthtime was different by less than a minute).

This is pretty severe. It's not as acute and focussed as the direct transits etc., but it does have symbolism more dead-on for the objective circumstances of the event.

CONVERSE SECONDARY PROGRESSIONS: The minor trigger of cp. Moon sextile cp. Neptune, just almost leaving partile orb. - But what's really interesting is that we AGAIN have the Venus-Jupiter progressed maturation! Converse p. Venus is at 24 SCO 54, partile trine natal Jupiter and semi-sextile natal Venus, in mirror image to the direct progressions.

CONVERSE SSR: <sigh> Transiting Venus conjunct natal Venus on the Descendant, square natal Jupiter. Natal Moon on the IC. A Mercury-Mars conjunction very broadly near the Descendant.

CONVERSE LUNAR RETURN: EP 14 LIB 44 seems to bring the natal Mars-Pluto (especially Pluto) the angle except the EP is only an inferred position of the R.A. square to the MC - and Pluto's latitude is so extreme that it's actually several degrees away. I won't count it. Not really an impressive charrt unless we really stretch it.

CONVERSE DEMI-LUNAR: Here's where it focusses, though. With an Ascendant at 16 LIB 58 and c. Neptune at 19 LIB 43, it puts the "Neptune atop his natal Mars-Pluto" right on the Ascendant, with Mars-Pluto actually straddling the Ascendant. There is then a 12' Mars-Saturn opposition along the Meridian (about 3 degrees away, quite foreground). For violent crime, this is the chart that pops! (Strange how converse charts - which, in theory, one might take to be more personal or subjective - are giving the most objective match to the events.

SteveS wrote:Personally, as foresight, when I do my annual analysis for a solar year, from now on, I am going to run a “Dynamic” hit list of transiting converse Mars with t. converse outer planets to my Natal angles—if any appear—I will mark the day’s t. converse Mars is partile conjunct a n. angle. I have been doing this with conventional transits but like Jim—I have rarely consulted converse transits. I think I will take a lesson with this terrible tragedy and start watching dual converse transits to natal angles which I guess would be very rare in a lifetime.

Yes. I really think you'd like to know if you're going to shoot up a theater of movie watchers in the near future

Jan 28, 2015

SteveS wrote:We have had some discussions of late with Mars-Pluto, at times, being a signature involving crime. We recently saw where Sam Cooke tragically died under a partile t. Mars-Pluto cnj partile 180 his r. Moon. We clearly see with Holmes Natal Chart his main signature with Mars cnj Pluto cnj IC. Bradley writes about Mars-Pluto:

This combination is essentially criminogenic, and the native may actually perpetrate misdeeds for which retribution follows swiftly and mercilessly.