Jeffrey Dahmer: An Astrological Analysis

Making a Monster: Dahmer, the 4th House and the Inner Crypt

Are criminals born — bad seeds just unluckily born under a bad sign? Or is it their childhood experiences to blame? Are criminals 'wired' differently through the neuron pathways of the brain or are they incarnations of some larger destructive evil force in the universe?

Astrology does not provide an answer as much as a window through which to get a clearer picture of the criminal mind. The frame of the picture and the content are at once disturbing and yet encouraging; a dance of fate, destiny, choice, chance and what lies buried in the center of our hearts.

Astrology works off the premise that we are a microcosm of the macrocosm in which we inhabit; physically, energetically, mentally and spiritually. When we reflect on the copious myths that have been handed down through various cultures about the macrocosmic dimension we see that the universe is completely dynamic and full of energies sometimes competing, harmonizing, constructively building, destructively tearing apart, making love, and in the fits of war.

The Archetypal Truth: Everything we experience has had a story written about it in some myth or legend. It is along the threads of these story lines, running through culture, that we form an identity and engage development upon in pursuit of a goal that is inextricably linked back to the archetypal story.

The story is writing the plot of our life and our life rewrites the story either conforming to established norms that ensure transmission or creating aberrations and anomalies that provide alternatives in interpretation. Which one will be dominate under the conditions of a particular period of time is the question Astrology attempts to answer.

The Fourth House: The Inner Crypt

The crux of criminality is the inner world and the story it is telling, astrologically known as the fourth house. When we are born the fourth house is directly below our feet, the nadir, lowest point and below the earth and symbolizes what is deep inside of us. It is opposite to the tenth house which is directly above our head and in the sky, also called the midheaven and our activity in the outer world.

The ancient Greeks called the fourth house the Hypogeum, the 'inner crypt' and the Vedic seers described it as 'Bhandu Bhava', sanskrit meaning "kinship, relation, association." This house carries both of these connotation of the interior place deep inside ourselves, an inner sanctum and what we are most intimately connected to, our kinsman and relations who we share the closest bonds.

3D laser model of the Hypogeum of Volumni. Stairs descend into an inner chamber in the earth where the bodies of the family members were laid to rest.

Whatever is in our 4th house in our birth chart we come in contact with when we access the deepest parts of ourselves. We then look outside for corresponding synergies to locate our place in the world while attempting to manifest our inner vision creating the connection between inner and outer through which we experience happiness, completion and a sense of wholeness.

And what if there are horrible things and destructive energies in the fourth house, what then? Enter Jeffrey Dahmer.

Jupiter Debilitated: The Absence of Light

The fourth house is not the only factor that influenced Jeffrey Dahmer to commit such atrocities but it was the deciding factor amongst other destabilizing placements in his birth chart. First thing we notice is that Jupiter is debilitated in Capricorn and with the 4th house cusp.

Jupiter is our sense of right and wrong, our notion of truth, guidance, our sense of purpose, finding deeper meaning and significance, loving something greater than ourself, happiness, goodwill, generosity, and forgiveness. When Jupiter is debilitated he can not produce these parts of himself in the life of the individual without help from friends.

Dahmer's planetary placements do not give Jupiter access to friends through which he may still produce and to make matters worse Jupiter is with Saturn who is in it's own sign giving it tremendous strength to completely dominate the 4th house and negate any positive effect Jupiter might have. Jupiter in this position becomes a debilitating influence allowing Dahmer to think, feel and act without any notions of right or wrong or consideration about how his actions effect others; a true psychopath.

Dahmer's drawing of the shrine he wanted to construct from his victims skeletons reflecting the manifestation of his inner world of death. Saturn also rules the color blue and black.

Saturn in the Fourth: The Lord of Death

The fourth house symbolizes yearnings in the sense of the desire to manifest the inner world and the joy experienced when the inner world is seen to be reflected in the outer world. With Jupiter completely decimated the only thing left in Dahmer's fourth house is Saturn, the lord of death, pain, suffering, lameness and misery. So Dahmer's inner world was a very dark place and what allowed him to fully engross himself in that world was Rahu in the twelfth house.

Saturn's Influence

As the sole ruler of Dahmer's 4th house, Saturn created an inner world dominated by death, isolation, and suffering - the very themes that would manifest in his crimes.

Rahu in the 12th

Rahu in the 12th house of fantasies and escape allowed him to disconnect from reality and social norms, diving deeper into his dark obsessions.

Rahu - The Shadow Planet of Obsession and Eclipse

The Eclipse of the Self

The twelfth house rules fantasies, other worlds and dimensions and also how we escape from our present reality. Rahu creates chaos and instability and the ability to go beyond any social norms. Rahu also represents intoxicating drugs and it was apparent throughout Dahmer's life that alcohol played a big role in how he allowed himself to become such a monster.

The other contributing factor was his rising sign, Libra made him want to connect with others but the lord of Libra sign, Venus is in the 8th house of taboos, addictions, breaking the law, and death. With his inner world a place of death, Jupiter not able to shine any light on the situation, Rahu pulling him wildly away from relating with this world and the lord of his rising sign in the 8th house Dahmer was highly poised for a life of crime and horrible deeds.

The Solar Eclipse Connection

There are ways to work with the energies of Saturn, Rahu and the 8th house that do not cause one to be a serial killer but a lot of that depends of Jupiter. The Sun also helps but In Dahmer's case Rahu was aspecting the Sun and Rahu is the point where the eclipse occurs and is said to eat the Sun.

The more he invested in 12th house factors of escaping the world the more he cultivated Rahu and the eclipse of his sense of self and the beneficial factors the Sun gives. The Sun being in his 9th house definitely gave him some connection to religion and philosophy which once he was deprived of his means to access Rahu by being imprisoned he did take an interest in Christianity and was even baptized, no less on a day of an eclipse. Truth stranger than fiction.

Patterns Among Criminal Charts

Taking a tour through other notable criminals charts shows a troubled 4th house is an overwhelmingly common factor linking the charts of people who have manifested the most heinous of acts:

• Charles Manson: The lord of his 4th house was the Moon and in his chart the Moon was with Saturn and Rahu
• Bernie Madoff: 4th house is in Scorpio and conjunct Rahu
• David Berkowitz: 4th house is conjunct the Moon and Rahu along with his rising sign lord in the 8th house

All of these placements indicate a deep wound the person has been carrying around from lifetime to lifetime. Without awareness, recognition and healing, these wounds become greater and greater until we develop a completely toxic relationship with ourselves and likewise mirroring this, a toxic relationship with our environment.

Choosing methods to fill the void, instability, pain and chaos inside that are not truly fulfilling leads to resorting to impulsive behavior as a way of life and destruction is inevitable.

The Path of Healing

A troubled 4th house will not make anyone who has it into a criminal or a serial killer but it is a call to heal the hurt within which maybe buried deep in the recesses of the mind. Luckily our minds and awareness are not static things, rather they are dynamic and responsive too conscious intention, learning, contemplation, meditation and creative imagining.

The future is as open as we allow ourselves to be, now.