by Marilyn Muir, LPMAFA
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For over three years, I have been conducting a study on the charts of serial killers. I have accessed over 100 birth charts, with 72% rated as accurate. Why would I do that? I am a practicing healer and minister, a peacenik at heart and can’t stand to watch anyone or anything get hurt. What would you do, however, if a book appeared in the air in front of you, title, cover, chapters, content and all, in a split second? Thank goodness I was not driving; I managed to spook my daughter-in-law quite thoroughly as I apparently looked shell-shocked. My kids are used to me by now, but their partners are never quite sure. What was my initial reaction to the subject? Yuck! Why me? Once I got over the initial shock and thought it through, I realized I did have the skills to do this.
For over forty years, I have studied philosophy and metaphysics and for 35 years I have studied astrology. I have built the emotional, mental, psychological and spiritual skills to maintain my sanity as well as the astrological skills to do the research. Of course, fifty years in the business world came in handy as well, so I went to work. Shortly I was blessed with two astrologers, students and friends with perfect backgrounds to help me do the research. And we did…we worked very hard and performed every sort of study we could think of and did it as carefully and as unbiased as possible. We generated over 200 reports during that time as we searched for potential astrological patterns.
Each of the serial killers in this study is unique in who they are, how they developed and then performed their dastardly deeds, were captured, were incarcerated, and then finality? Trying to find a pattern was like the proverbial needle in a haystack. But we persevered, and learned, and grew as the charts themselves put us through school. We did see patterns, but none emerged as an absolute and infallible signature of a serial killer.
Once we had generated the reports without preconceptions or bias, we then examined several claims in astrological books and various studies to see if those conclusions coincided with our findings on these specific charts. For the most part the previously-published conclusions were a little shaky and not fully supported by our findings, but occasionally they made a decent match. But none dovetailed to the point where we shouted, “Eureka, we’ve found it!” We did discover new techniques and applications along the way, which is always exciting.
As our national political situation developed towards the end of 2008 and into 2009, I got a little sidetracked as I researched and developed the material needed for my bookon ten of the 43 U.S. presidents. My research assistants and the study had to sit patiently on the back burner for a few months. More recently I have been able to do some simple tasks to get this study back on track, and my assistants are still waiting patiently. I am truly blessed.
We have not reached full conclusions as of this moment. It was important to allow the charts to lead the study and to avoid bias, so it took us the long way round. It is always easy to have a conclusion and to do the research to back up that conclusion. We deliberately avoided that. Did we find anything worthwhile in all that study? Yes, we did. Are we finished? No, we are not.
In the overall statistical approach, I can tell you that hard aspects don’t promise you nasty people as a result. The number of trines and sextiles in the serial killer charts is amazing. The chart patterns originally developed by Marc Edmond Jones were highly significant. Stelliums and clusters were quite prominent as were interceptions. And the Moon—aah, the Moon–revealed so much through several techniques and applications.
The individual readings for each serial killer were an exercise in astrological education and that is where we will continue to spend more time. Also, a surprising set of results came out of a study of serial killer executions. I had 32 serial killers with accurate birth and death times. We got great results on 32 of the 32. Highly unusual – I’m still investigating that, or, we may have made a breakthrough in technique.
What did we hope to accomplish for all this work? Law enforcement and psychology have spent years trying to create a body of information to assist them in identifying, capturing and prosecuting criminal behavior such as serial killing. Profiling is an emerging resource. There is no single study that addresses all the issues involved. However, all that is curative and not preventative. Astrology charts would make an amazing profiling tool if we could validate the pattern. As astrologers, we have the birth chart, the map of the potential of an individual. Success in this study from this perspective would fall into the preventative category. One primary question drives these studies, whether the research is astrological or not. Are people born bad or do they develop that way? Our research shows that if significant and reliable patterns can be found in the birth chart, it may answer the question about being “born bad”. If it is not visible in the birth chart, the individual has been subject to developmental or environmental influences.
In the past, I’ve done similar research on alcoholism (100 charts) and HIV/Aids (100 charts). Alcoholism is visible in the birth chart; therefore, it should have a genetic factor. HIV/Aids is not visible in the birth chart. My research shows it to be opportunistic. In our day-to-day experience, a door opens and we walk through it. Unfortunately, in this instance the name of that door is HIV/Aids. I want to do enough research to know if serial killing can be determined through use of the birth chart. If not, it doesn’t make astrology wrong or not useful, it merely directs our attention to development and environment, with human experience as the determinant.
My research assistants and I are still searching for answers. We’ve found some, but not enough. There is always more to learn.
Published on EZine online October, 2009, republished with slight editing.
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