In his controversial novel “American Psycho,” Pisces Brett Easton Ellis writes, “It strikes me profoundly that the world is more often than not a bad and cruel place.”
Given the popularity of true crime as entertainment and our cultural fascination with serial killers, it would seem we as people crave constant confirmation of that cruelty.
Research suggests there is a biological imperative to our consumption of true crime. Scientists theorize that the more we learn about dangerous people, the easier they are to recognize in the wild (often by their eyewear) and the less likely we are to become victims; a preparatory edge in the game of survival if you will.
But can knowing someone’s zodiac sign help suss out whether they are built to kill?
Well folks, we are all born capable of terror or transcendence, love or fear and there is no single point, placement or aspect in a birth chart that indicates someone will kill another person.
As the ancient adage maintains, “the stars incline us, they do not bind us,” and the conditions that make for a killer are environmental and include early signs of psychological dysfunction and a home life peppered with sexual or physical abuse and drug/alcohol addiction.
Much of this article was inspired by the research of Dr. Jan Ruis, who, in doing the work of the people, analyzed the birth charts of three hundred serial killers. Using the criteria of the FBI, Ruis defines a serial killer as a person who commits two or more murders in separate events, effectively excluding those who have committed mass murder events, as well as governmental or political leaders.
Just as specific childhood behaviors, namely bed wetting, animal torture, isolation, fire starting and chronic lying present themselves in the profiles of prolific murderers, Ruis hypothesized there may be certain astrological signs, energies, influences and aspects that occur more frequently in the kill for thrill populous.
Spoiler alert: Scorpios ain’t as dangerous as we’ve been lead to believe.
Read on to learn more. Bear in mind that regardless of the stars we fall under or the dark hands we’re dealt in the game of life, free will reigns supreme.
Mutability and murder
In astrology, the signs are divided into three modalities; cardinal, which initiates, fixed which stabilizes and mutable which adapts. Ruis’ research revealed that the majority of serial killers belong not to one specific sign, but to the mutable modality. Here’s looking at you Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces.
Mutable signs fall always at the end of a season and signify transformation, a metaphor for death if ever there was one. Mutable signs are known for short attention spans, chameleonic tendencies and a dangerously low threshold for boredom, a reasonable combo for criminal cruelty.
Famous mutable murderers include Jeffrey Dahmer (Gemini), Ed “Psycho” Gein (Virgo), killer clown John Wayne Gacy (Pisces), Ted Bundy (Sagittarius), Aileen “Monster” Wuornos (Pisces), Charles Starkweather (Sagittarius), Larry “Interstate Killer” Eyler (Sagittarius), David “Son of Sam” Berkowitz (Gemini), Richard “Night Stalker” Ramirez (Pisces), Andrew Cunanan (Virgo), Otis Toole, Albert “Boston Strangler” DeSalvo (Virgo), Randy “Freeway Killer” Kraft (Pisces), and Dennis “BTK” Rader (Pisces).
The mutable signs are ruled by Mercury, Jupiter and Neptune, respectively. Mercury is associated with thought patterns, communication and mania, Jupiter with abundance and excess and Neptune with dreams and delusion.
As Ruis, the serial killers considered express some of the darker tendencies of their planetary rulers, “As adults they are addicted to their fantasies (Neptune), have a lack of empathy, a constant urge for stimuli (Mercury), a lack of external goals in life, a low self-control (Jupiter) and a low sense of personal power.
The lack of empathy or remorse (Neptune), the superficial charm (Mercury) and the inflated self-appraisal (Jupiter) are features of psychopathy.”
The majority of serial killers belong not to one specific sign, but rather to a zodiac modality.
Geminis have cunning minds and curious imaginations that at best make them lively conversationalists and original thinkers. On the murder tip these inclinations are liable to produce a hyper verbal killer who writes their own fan mail, taunts the police and blames their crimes on satanic dogs like “Son of Sam” slayer David Berkowitz.
Mutable earth, Virgos are an industrious and exacting sort, obsessed with details, finding patterns, synthesizing information and improving everything and everyone they come in contact with. They shine as detectives, attentive partners and coset organizers and swing terribly low in the form of methodical, mother loving, skin suit making psychopath Ed Gein. I maintain that there are probably far more Virgo serial killers who have eluded justice based on precision, planning and immaculate crime scenes.
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Sagittarius folk are Jupiter ruled, prone to excess and adventure and positively euphoric when engaged in risky behavior. This can manifest as a polyamorous, road trip loving, good time having, tall tale telling gambler type, or as serial killer and double Sagittarius (sun and moon) Ted Bundy.
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Pisces people are deeply in tune with the collective consciousness and ride the currents of dreams and the tidal pull of nightmares; this can exhibit itself as cloud painting, lavender loving, poetry spewing ennui or run of the mill nihilism. Pisces people are prone to letting their emotions and delusions run rough shod over them and at its darkest expression that looks like living with voices while living out violent sexual fantasies like Richard Ramirez and crazed clown John Wayne Gacy.
The Twelfth House
In astrology, the twelfth house is the last in the wheel and represents the unconscious mind, escape, endings, mysticism and the badlands between reality and release. This house is the domain of hotels, hospitals, prisons, creatures of the night, psychological torture and ghosts of the literal and metaphorical variety. The house of unseen enemies, self undoing, addiction and delusion, Ruis’s study found this house to be hot bed of planetary activity in the birth charts of killers.
Conflicting evidence
Another study, conducted by ZodiacSign.com found that water signs, Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces plus mutable fire sign Sagittarius were tied for most murderous, accounting for forty percent of serial killers considered. The same study found that Capricorns, while not the most represented sign overall, accounted for the greatest number of victims. Leave it to the ever striving sea goat to overachieve.
I would argue that Caps are gain-motivated killers, equally inspired by greed and sadism, ever looking to secure assets or cement status, like Marcel Petiot. Aries kill because they have poor impulse control, black out when angry and/or believe the killing is heroic/merciful like Herbert ‘murder prevents earthquakes’ Mullin.
Cancers kill because they are generally emotionally unstable and must destroy what they can’t control. Leos kill for love or limelight, Libras for street cred/because their significant other told them to (Bonnie Parker was a Libra.) Scorpios commit murder for the same reason they do anything at all, to assert supremacy and to see if they can get away with it, like Gary Francis Postea, posthumously believed to be The Zodiac Killer. Last but not least, Aquarians rarely kills and are loathe to get blood on their space suits/lab coats/metallic boots; they see murder as an animal impulse far beneath them, preferring to let lesser minion carry out their dark deeds.
Taurus as the low key killer
Some reports claim Taurus takes the cake for kill count but these people aren’t really motivated by murder as prison food is universally bad and cleaning up a crime scene is an awful lot of work… which may be exactly why they get caught.
Killer bulls include but are not limited to con artist horror house builder H.H. Holmes, Michael Ryan, David Copeland, Karla Homolka, Albert Fish, Levi Bellfield, Orville Lynn Majors, Robert Black, Steve Wright, and Martha Beck. If we extend the scope of murder to include politicians and cult leaders, the blood and the body count doth rise in these pastures as Pol Pot, Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Lenin, Saddam Hussein, and Jim ‘drink the Kool-Aid’ Jones were all Tauruses.
I hope what you’ve read has shed some light on the darker parts of the human psyche. May it make you kind and keep you alive.
Astrology 101: Your guide to the stars
Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture and personal experience. She is also an accomplished writer who has profiled a variety of artists and performers, as well as extensively chronicled her experiences while traveling. Among the many intriguing topics she has tackled are cemetery etiquette, her love for dive bars, Cuban Airbnbs, a “girls guide” to strip clubs and the “weirdest” foods available abroad.