by Lynn Hayes
Military personnel are struggling to retrace the steps of the suspected shooter in Thursday’s massacre at the Fort Hood military base in Texas. Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a devout Muslim, has been named as the gunman. He allegedly opened fire shouting “Allahu Akbar” (god is great) before killing thirteen people and wounding 28 others. He was shot down by police and is currently on a ventilator.
Hasan has described himself as being of Palestinian descent (second generation), although some sources have listed his background as Jordanian. He was born in Arlington Virginia on September 8, 1970 (no time available), and joined the army immediately after completing high school, against his parent’s wishes. He attended Virginia Tech as an enlisted soldier and went on to medical school at a military university, earning his medical degree in 2001. Further education trained him to be a psychiatrist, and he was promoted to Major in 2008.
Hasan’s parents died in 1998 and 2001, after which time he is said to have become more devout, attending the local mosque regularly and after September 11 he became more and more outspoken against the “war on terror” which he felt was a war against Islam. Perhaps as a result of his increasing distress about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he became the target of harrassment from other soldiers and had recently hired an attorney to attempt to be released from his military obligations.
Hasan’s astrological chart reveals a deeply introverted individual, with four planets in the service–oriented sign of Virgo. Virgo is very much about rules and the need for life to follow a certain order, and it is likely that Hasan embraced life in the military as a means to achieve that sense of order. News reports suggest that he joined the army against his parents’ wishes out of a sense of duty to the United States.
Hasan’s Virgo planets form a challenging square to his Moon which is in Sagittarius. Sagittarius is the sign of optimism and faith, and the Moon describes our emotional needs. This placement suggests that Hasan was always struggling between a rigid sense of duty and routine (Virgo) and a need for freedom and escape (Sagittarius), and perhaps his religion, which falls under the Sagittarian mantle, provided that hope for release.
Hasan’s chart also reveals a bit about his desire for love, with Venus, the planet of attraction and relationships, in the intensely passionate sign of Scorpio. The intensity of Scorpio can make relationships difficult or overwhelming, especially for someone with such a well-defined need for order and routine (Virgo) with a secret desire to escape (Sagittarius). His Venus conjoins Jupiter, which ordinarily can be a blessing in drawing and attracting love, but in this case may have simply served to expand (Jupiter) the obsessive intensity of Hasan’s passions which, because of his lack of success in the area of relationships, may have instead been funneled through religion (Sagittarius Moon).
Although Hasan’s Mercury (his thoughts and communication) is in the sign of Virgo which typically conveys an orderly and detail-oriented mind, it is retrograde in his chart which suggests that he had difficulty expressing himself and felt that he could not make himself heard. This tendency is exacerbated by a conjunction of Pluto, planet of obsession and intensity, to Mercury in his chart which enhances a potential for obsessive and destructive thinking.
We also see Saturn, the planet of self-doubt, is retrograde in this chart. Retrograde Saturn typically describes an individual who has a tendency to be self-critical and more than others, to feel a sense of inadequacy. Saturn in the chart is opposed by Neptune, planet of illlusion and spirituality, suggesting a tension between his need for structure and rules (Saturn) with his desire to escape or transcend his life (Neptune). The combination of Saturn and Neptune can lead to a Grand Delusion in which the ends justify the means.
I want to emphasize that this is not a particularly difficult chart; these are garden variety challenges that are found in virtually every chart. Each of us has the choice every moment whether we are going to react to the challenges in our chart, or consciously strive to become better integrated and better able to make the changes in our world that we desire.
During the period of time in which Hasan’s parents died, which seems to be the turning point in his life that propelled him into a more intense embrace of his faith, transiting Pluto was beginning a challenging square to the Virgo planets in his chart. Beginning with a square to his Mars in 1998 with the death of his first parent, which could have unearthed (Pluto) a deep rage (Mars) within him, Pluto went on to square his Sun in 2001 with the death of the second parent, a time that coincided with the September 11 attacks. By this time the underworld of Hasan’s psyche would have been deeply activated, and it appeared that he used his religion and his outrage against the wars as an outlet for the emotional debris that was released by Pluto and intensified by the presence of Saturn, the planet of tests and challenges, in that square formation.
Back in 2001, transiting Saturn was oppose Pluto in the sky, a planetary combination that peaked with the September 11 attacks. At that time both planets formed a square to Hasan’s Virgo planets. This would have been a time of tremendous distress for anyone, and for someone with an unresolved sense of identity such as Hasan had it evidently created a powderkeg of distress. I suspect that it was this period which holds the clues to Thursday’s events. t it
In 2006, transiting Pluto completed the transit of Hasan’s Virgo planets with a square to Pluto in his natal chart. We call this the “Pluto square,” one of what I affectionally call the “midlife crisis transits.” Pluto rules transformation, death and power, and at the time of the square from Pluto in the sky to Pluto in our chart nothing is simple or easy; we are often blocked at every turn. This can be an opportunity for us to become empowered and clear about our motivations, or it can be a time of great distress. Often it is both.
In Hasan’s case this Pluto square was immediately followed by a transit of Saturn across his Virgo planets again, which just completed in September. Saturn was exactly conjunct Hasan’s Sun in June when another Muslim went on a shooting spree at a Little Rock recruiting center, an event which apparently had an effect on him.
At the same time, Hasan’s progressed Mars (rage and aggression) was exactly conjunct progressed Pluto and squared by transiting Saturn, and the inner rage which has been building beneath the cautious Virgoan personality began to explode. However, Saturn’s pressure and confinement was creating restrictions and compression that likely exacerbated the developing rage within him.
Again – there is nothing in this chart that would have suggested or excused an act such as this. After an event such as this one, the people that knew the shooter always say “he was such a quiet man,” or “I can’t believe he could have done this.” Had Hasan not retreated so completely into himself where he could not find a more objective way to handle his emotions and create the change in his life that he desired, there could have been a very different outcome. How ironic, and tragic, that as an army psychiatrist he was trained to accomplish this very thing for other soldiers.&nbs
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posted November 7, 2009 at 8:29 am
They initially said he was killed, but no, it turns out he’s on life support. So which is it?
The killed gunman was absolutely identified as Hasan and declared dead by officials, even to the satisfaction of the FBI. By what criteria the ID? They were even ready to give out all of Hasan’s background BEFORE they knew he wasn’t the one killed. Notice Hasan is referred to as the “suspected” gunman. Why “suspected” as to ID? Because they knew he really wasn’t the real Hasan? But they did expect Hasan to be dead, too, only he wasn’t. Also, the FBI (Suits) were on hand to spirit away the other probable shooters. Hasan has been framed.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aFZ1IY1nxZX4
Army Says 12 Dead, 31 Wounded in Fort Hood Shooting (Update4)
By Anthony Capaccio and Viola Gienger
Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) — Twelve people were killed and 31 were wounded by at least one gunman who opened fire on the grounds of Fort Hood Army Base in Texas, the U.S. military said.
The suspected shooter, a soldier, was killed, Lieutenant General Robert Cone, commander of III Corps at the base, said at a press conference.
“We do not know” what the motive was, Cone said. WITNESSES REPORTED SEEING “MORE THAN ONE SHOOTER,” HE SAID.
posted November 7, 2009 at 11:39 am
I don’t think there’s necessarily a coverup. With that level of confusion, it would be easy enough to misidentify one of the dead men who looked similar to the shooter as the actual shooter. And if some of the other people there returned fire, that would explain why people reported more than one shooter.
posted November 7, 2009 at 11:40 am
Kieron,
Very Interesting-
Do you think Hasan is Jewish, too?
The most important quote from your link
“Mullen cautioned against speculation before facts are known.”
posted November 7, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Lynn,
One factor that is not mentioned much, but certainly added to the mix is the impact of his treating returning war veterans for PTSD. In addition to seeing horrific physical wounds, suffering and broken bodies on a daily basis, he listened to horrific details of their stories, and their emotions -fear and terror – anger – guilt – horror, and hearing this over and over and over again. I’ve read that he was deeply distressed by this. I’m sure he internalized many of those images – not only of Americans being wounded and killed, but also of civilians – Muslims – as well.
Ask any therapist who works with trauma on a daily basis. It can play havoc with the psyche and many therapists have had to give it up or lose themselves.
So in addition to everything else going on with him, he may have been suffering from PTSD as well.
How does this show in the chart?
posted November 7, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Fascinating post Lynn, I heard the birthdate on him and didn’t have the time (or skill) to take a look at his chart as you have done. I like that you emphasize, more than once, the idea that anyone could have these same aspects and not make the choice he did.
When I was in college I decided against pursuing a career in psychology for just the reason mentioned by other commenters, the stress of hearing (and living in a way) the pains of my patients. I didn’t have the strength to do that for life, and luckily I realized it at the right time.
In light of the office shooting in Orlando, are there any large scale movements in the planets that offer any insight?
posted November 7, 2009 at 4:01 pm
We should not come to conclussion without knowing the true facts.
What do You do when You know a smal puzzle of the future and You let People know in advance, but they can’t see what You see, or hear the same You do? What happen is our Goverments fault and none other!
posted November 7, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Excuse me, but how do you figure that this was the government’s fault? The one to blame is the shooter.
posted November 8, 2009 at 12:29 am
Lynn, I disagree that Hasan’s chart was garden-variety and not particularly difficult. Having natal Saturn opposed to natal Neptune is very challenging. Neptune dissolves the ability to see the outer world as it is, while Saturn is the reality principle. In addition, Saturn structures the ego while Neptune is an ego-denying influence. Saturn can create deep-seated, intense fear, while Neptune can create illusions and delusions. I’m struck by the intense terror that Hasan experienced about his deployment to Afghanistan. Saturn would trigger the fear while Neptune would exaggerate this fear out of all proportion. Although the Virgo planets gave Hasan the ability to analyze and use reason, when his fear became overwhelming, his reason flew out the window. It was very difficult for Hasan, as it would be for anyone, to integrate the energies of Saturn and Neptune which are pulling in opposite directions. In Hasan’s case, his consciousness began to disintegrate. To stand on a table and fire 100 shots indiscriminately against your fellow soldiers in a matter of several minutes shows how disordered and disintegrated he had become. Outwardly, he displayed a calm demeanor, a kind of robotic behaviour, which hid the fact that he had already bought the guns and had clearly planned this mass murder. By this time, he was already over the edge. Very sad!! Some therapists say that mass murderers really want to commit suicide but are afraid to do it, so they carry out the murders in the hopes that someone else will kill them. I suspect that this was Hasan’s deepest wish, but this didn’t happen. I imagine that when he comes to consciousness and sees that he is still alive, the full weight of what he has done and the consequences that he will be facing — he has already been called by some in the media “the most hated man in America” will all come crashing down on him, and I suspect that he will be extremely suicidal. This is a terrible tragedy for those he murdered and injured, for Hasan himself, and for all Americans. May God bless us all with his Love, Wisdom and Mercy while we struggle to process this awful event.
posted November 8, 2009 at 2:53 am
Thank you Louis for your thoughtful and moving post.
posted November 8, 2009 at 10:46 am
Thanks everyone for your comments.
Jay, I too found it interesting that Hasan’s role as a psychiatrist took him deeper into his own fears. I frankly can’t imagine how soldiers of any persuasion can face the kind of risk and stress every day that these people have and not break down. Especially in the kind of grinding war with seemingly no purpose and no end such as we face in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Louis, thank you for your comments. Obviously there are difficult aspects in this chart, as I describe in my analysis. However, there are not the extreme aspects of Saturn, Chiron or Pluto that normally creates extreme psychic distress.
I myself have Saturn in square to Neptune, and am very familiar with the Saturn/Neptune dynamic. By itself, it does not lead to the kind of behavior that involves a massacre. Your beautiful description of the roles that Saturn and Neptune play in alternatively defining (Saturn) and breaking down (Neptune) the ego is beautifully stated, and combined with the stress between the fierce sense of Virgoan duty and the Sagittarian desire to flee (via suicide?) clearly there was a great deal of psychic stress.
However, I see charts every day that are far more difficult than this one, and I would never want anyone to think that a Saturn/Neptune opposition in itself would create this kind of behavior.
posted November 9, 2009 at 8:38 pm
I first began investigating Astrology in 1971. Initially a skeptic but with 7 Planets in Air signs and a creative imagination (Pisces Sun/Mercury) and years of analysis two thing continue to amaze me, namely: 1) How well Astrology works and 2) the lack of credibility it gets from intellectuals. I experienced powerful affects of Pluto transits personally when Pluto was square my Sun and Mercury in Pisces and opposed my Mars/Saturn Conjunction in Gemini simultaneously. It was an extremely emotional time and difficult to balance logic and feelings (Libra Moon). Of course my Aquarius Venus and Ascendant helped me escape problems Move to another state). A few of things that happened were a heart attack, a conspiracy by my brother over inheritance and other serious health issues. I saw all this happening in my astrology at the time but there was little I could do nothing about it other than wait it out for the very long time it takes to get through Pluto aspects. I understand how Pluto aspects work. It is and endurance challenge this guy obviously couldn’t handle. The need for “righteousness” of a Sagittarian Moon has a huge motivational affect. Just looking at the Element stacking shows huge problems looks like muddy (unclear) thinking followed by an emotional eruption (Fire/Moon). Certainly Pluto stirs underworld actions over an extended period of psychological pressures.
posted November 10, 2009 at 4:03 pm
It ultimately is not natal aspects that decide who and what we are but the choices we make in each life. Natal aspects are a road map. A fork in the road presents clear choice though it may be clouded and stressful. The sad karmic situation here is that not only may his death wish eventually be fulfilled but karmically there is no release from such choices and the soul may be fated to face the same stresses yet again..
posted November 11, 2009 at 8:06 am
::nodding:: what Chiron said.