Asteroid-World Spring 1999
Zip Dobyns
Littleton Tragedy
People in the U.S. and in many other areas have been fixated in recent weeks on scenes of violence; the genocide underway in Kosovo and the massacre in Colorado by two high school students. The Internet has helped some families to find loved ones driven from their homes by the Serbs, though standard TV news channels have provided the graphic pictures. For astrologers, the Internet has helped to share data. Within days after the violence in the Columbine high school in Littleton, CO, the birth data of the two “presumed” killers was circulating on the “net.” Storm Castavani wrote that he went to Plattsburgh, NY and was able to obtain the birth certificate of Eric Harris. Debra Spaulding claimed that she was able to see the birth certificate of Dylan Klebold in Denver, CO.
After initial excitement and gratitude for the enterprise and willingness to share their data of these two astrologers, the questions arrived. It was claimed that “Storm” was not the real name of the NY astrologer, but Lois Rodden’s latest Data News reports that Francis McEvoy and Lisa Ruffino have seen Eric’s birth record, so, hopefully, that data is accurate. However, Batya Stark in Denver says the CO state law only allows access to birth records to family members and no one can locate Debra Spaulding. So, we have to consider Dylan’s birth time questionable. I had played with the time before getting the one from Debra, and thought maybe Dylan was born in the afternoon, putting his Libra stellium in the 8th house, but for the moment, just focus on aspects and signs in his chart, and consider house positions uncertain.
Eric was born in Plattsburgh on April 9, 1981 at 21:37 EST. Dylan was born in Denver on September 11, 1981, possibly at 9:11 A.M. The shooting has been reported as starting at 11:15 A.M. on April 20, 1999, though some reports put it at 11:18. The first 911 emergency call was received by the police about 11:21, and the swat teams arrived by 11:30. No one knows exactly when Eric and Dylan finished their killing spree in the school library and turned their guns on themselves, but the police were delayed in their rescue efforts by the astonishing number of bombs distributed through the school and its vicinity. The final count reached 51, though a much smaller number actually exploded. One teacher and 13 students were killed, in addition to Eric and Dylan, who were presumed suicides. It is possible that one killed the other and then himself. 23 other individuals were reported to have been wounded, some ending with possible lifetime impairments.
The media have been filled with attempts to understand the tragedy. In response to suggestions that Eric was born a racist psychopath, former friends in Plattsburgh reported that he was a normal kid whose close friends there included blacks and Asians. They insisted the tragedy could not have happened in Plattsburgh. In response to experts ready to blame his parents, his father was described as supportive, attending all of Eric’s Little League games as well as his court hearings when he and Dylan were arrested for theft. The presiding judge said it was rare for fathers to come; mostly mothers or both parents came. Eric’s mother was a counselor for disabled individuals, and his college-age older brother was described as highly successful in both sports and academics.
The main driving force behind Eric’s rage seems to have been verbal and physical attacks by the “elite” students at Columbine, the “jocks.” The school was famous for its success in sports, with a principal who was a former coach and reportedly favored the athletes in the school. In interviews, the principal denied what every student described as favoritism for the jocks, as well as any knowledge of their mistreatment of the “outsiders.” There is no question about Eric and Dylan being outsiders, members of a small group of 10 or 12 students who were derisively called the “trench coat mafia” by other students. The group responded by accentuating their dark clothing and fascination with death, expressing a style sometimes called “Goth,” an abbreviation of Gothic. But other members of the group denied any knowledge of Eric’s and Dylan’s plans to get even with the jocks. Also, other members of the “mafia” may not have shared Eric’s and Dylan’s attraction to Hitler and the Nazis, which was carried to the point of learning some German, giving the Nazi salute, and choosing Hitler’s birthday for their killing spree.
There were lots of warning signs, but apparently the different authorities never put it all together. During the 10 months the boys were in a juvenile justice program following their arrest for theft, they made a violent video as a school project, picturing themselves shooting fellow students in the halls. However, the juvenile authorities were not alerted. A fellow student, Brooks Brown, was secretly warned by Dylan, who was a former close friend before he tied his life to Eric, that Eric hated Brooks and threatened to kill him. Dylan gave Brooks the password for Eric’s Web site on AOL which was full of threats to kill. Mrs. Brown, Brooks’ mother, went to the Sheriff, gave him a printout from Eric’s site, and called repeatedly, but never heard anything back. The Sheriff later said they could not find the Web site, but they never called Mrs. Brown back to clarify the password needed to access it. They did warn the armed guard at the school to “watch” Eric, but the guard never saw him do anything wrong until the day of the shooting when he shot at the boys, but apparently missed.
Eric’s parents were sufficiently aware of his emotional problems to take him to a psychiatrist who prescribed Luvox, a drug said to be prescribed for depression or obsessive-compulsive problems. Eric also received some individual counseling during his 10 months in a “diversionary” program of the juvenile justice system, but the four officers handling these programs were each responsible for 55 to 65 teen-agers, and only saw their charges 3 times a month. Eric’s program focused on “anger management,” and Eric told the authorities that he “enjoyed it.” Dylan’s program was focussed on ethics, and he said it was not helpful. After the massacre, Brooks Brown told a reporter that shortly before the fatal day, Eric had changed his attitude and Brooks reassured his parents that Eric was no longer a threat. Brooks actually met Eric as he headed toward the school to begin the killing, and was told that Eric now liked him and he should go home immediately. The Sheriff is trying to excuse his own negligence by suggesting that Brooks might be guilty as a co-conspirator.
Turning to Eric’s horoscope, his need to control his life and his world is blatantly obvious. Uranus rising close to a Scorpio Ascendant shows the fixed potential of enduring self-will with both a fixed planet and a fixed sign. Its ruler, Pluto, is in the natural house of Uranus, and Juno, which is like Pluto, is also there in Scorpio. Additional fixed emphasis comes from the nodes in Aquarius-Leo, Vesta in Leo, and Chiron and Pallas in Taurus, in addition to factors in all the fixed houses, especially the Sun, Mars, and Venus in the natural house of Leo. The other emphasized quality is cardinal, which includes the Ascendant ruler, Pluto in Libra, and the co-ruler, Mars, in its own sign of Aries along with Mercury, Sun, and Venus. Jupiter, which rules the Sagittarius in the first house and is therefor another key to identity, is conjunct Saturn, reinforcing the cardinal quality with a cardinal planet (Saturn), sign (Libra), and the natural house of Saturn.
Putting a first house ruler in the tenth house as well as conjunct Saturn produces a repeated one-ten combination. The associated feelings can range from “My will is law” to “The world has all the power and I might as well give up.” When fire is strong, the individual is more apt to feel that he should have the right and power to do what he wants, as warrior, king, and god, our three fire sides of life. Fire is highlighted in Eric’s chart with a grand trine in fire signs and houses. Water is emphasized with the rising Scorpio and the Moon and Ceres in Cancer in the Scorpio house. The combination of conflict aspects in fixed and cardinal mixtures points to a life of power struggles. These can be “healthy” in sports, games, competitive business, or fighting for “causes.” The competition is “healthy” as long as the individual knows it is a game and takes it lightly. But fire and water are the emotional elements, intense, with water holding back and brooding until the fire builds up enough force to explode. Eric’s diary showed that process continuing for a year before the final literal explosion with bombs and bullets.
The need for a healthy competitive outlet is obvious in Eric’s chart, and it is tragic that he did not find a niche in the sports-obsessed world of Columbine. His strong Leo, including Mars and the Sun in the Leo house, craved applause. When he failed to get it with academic success, and could not attain a place among the jocks, he chose to be famous by destructive actions. Scorpio is traditionally associated with death, among other endings, and individuals with a letter eight emphasis often have to learn to take things more lightly, to learn moderation, when is enough, and how to let go. But when we add some of the extra asteroids to Eric’s chart, we get a deeper insight into his morbid obsession with death. There are four asteroids named for goddesses of death: Hel and Hela (for the same goddess), Libitina, and Atropos. Using my standard one-degree orbs for the new asteroids, Eric’s natal Sun was conjunct Hel and opposite Atropos, while his P Sun was octile Libitina in 22 Pisces and trioctile P Hela in 22 Virgo. The lunar nodes were also involved in the network of aspects squared by P Sun and P Mercury and octile or trioctile Libitina and P Hela. P Pluto squared Erigone in 23 Cancer throughout his short life. Two different women in Greek myths were named Erigone and both committed suicide.
Many other appropriate asteroid aspects were present, including P Hel in 25 Aries quincunx both the Ascendant and N Hela in 25 Virgo to form a yod. A yod is the strongest indication in astrology of the urge to separate and go in a new direction. P Vesta opposed natal Icarus and they formed a grand cross with the Ascendant and Guernica in 26 Taurus. Vesta can show tunnel vision that is oblivious to the “big picture” and the effects of one’s actions on others. Guernica was named for a city in Spain that was bombed by the Nazis in the Spanish Civil War. Along with Dresden, it signifies attacks on innocent victims. Icarus overreached and crashed. P Guernica in 2 Gemini squared P Icarus in 2 Pisces. Dresden in 14 Pisces squared Harris, the asteroid with Eric’s last name, which was in 14 Gemini on the West Point, an auxiliary Descendant. P Dresden just under 25 Pisces opposed Hela and squared Neptune while P Neptune held a lifetime conjunction with Eric, the asteroid of Eric’s first name.
A Neptune conjunction with one’s personal name asteroid in Sagittarius in the first house is a repeated identification with the Absolute. “I am or ought to be God.” The individual’s response can range from “I am God” to “I can never be perfect enough;” from “I can do anything I want” to “I ought to save the world single-handed,” etc. To add to the danger of psychological inflation, the south node of Mars was also conjunct Neptune within one degree. P Eric had turned retrograde and was still in 23 Sagittarius but it had moved back into one-degree squares to Libitina and P Hela. Could anything be more appropriate than having one’s personal name asteroid on Neptune (for unrealistic fantasy and ideals) square two of the death goddesses?
As our regular readers may remember, Winchester is an asteroid for guns, and Nobel for dynamite. Eric’s natal Moon was on Nobel square Jupiter, a ruler of his first house as indicated above. P Saturn had retrograded to conjunct P Brown and square Nobel. Remember, the Brown family tried to warn the Sheriff and they were brushed off, partly because they refused to sign an official complaint, fearing reprisals by Eric. Brooks, the first name of the student initially threatened by Eric, but later warned to leave before the killing started, was in 19 Scorpio conjunct Eric’s natal Part of Death. P Brooks had retrograded to oppose Chiron and octile the P MC. P Nobel in 8 Cancer was quincunx P Ascendant and P south node of Mars. P Atropos had retrograded to 14 Libra to conjunct Winchester, trine Harris, quincunx Dresden, and be trioctile Poseidon and Damocles in 29 Aquarius. Poseidon was the Greek name for Neptune and Damocles was famous for the sword hanging by a thread over his head. P Damocles in 0 Pisces was quincunx P Erigone (suicide) in 0 Leo. P Winchester, P Themis (divine justice) and P Kaiser (German ruler) were all in 10 Libra octile Eric’s natal Ascendant. Finally, P Part of Death in 5 Taurus was octile P Harris and quincunx Saturn. During the final weeks of making plans, acquiring guns, and building bombs, Eric’s P Part of Death had been retrograding over his P Mercury and P Sun, both of the latter holding conjunctions with the natal north node of Mars. The planetary nodes are another key to the planet that is their source, so P Mercury and P Sun on the node of Mars carried the same meaning as a conjunction with the planet.
Before we leave Eric, do his local houses in Littleton, CO provide any additional insight into his problems there? His Ascendant there was still in Scorpio, with Juno conjunct it within 2 degrees. This reinforces the importance of peer relationships that was shown in his birthplace chart by Pallas close to the Descendant. The midpoint of his local A/MC was just under 22 Virgo, becoming part of the massive aspect network of P Sun and Mercury, P Hela, Libitina, the lunar nodes, etc. His local Part of Death in 3 Libra was on Jupiter, square Nobel and the Moon. P Neptune held a trioctile to his local MC. P Ascendant opposed P Chiron and was octile his local Part of Death and P Jupiter. His local P Part of Death was trioctile the local Ascendant and his local P East Point was quincunx P Mars and the Moon to form a yod, while his local P Antivertex was octile P Moon. The local angles certainly reinforced the destructive potentials in the birthplace chart.
There is always more, but we need to look at Dylan’s chart, remembering that the birth time is uncertain so house positions and chart angles are not reliable. It is easy to see why Dylan was always described as a “follower.” We can see the potential in Eric’s chart for someone capable of vengeance and violence. Though Dylan has a strongly placed Pluto in the middle of a huge Libra stellium, his chart at first glance looks basically friendly, vulnerable to the opinions of others, but willing to compromise to maintain pleasant relationships. In fact, his chart has some strong similarities to Bill Clinton’s. If this birth time is accurate, he did have a potent Vesta, precisely on the Ascendant, with its tunnel-vision potential, as well as a rising Jupiter for the identification with the Absolute, though this could be subconscious with its 12th house placement. But the broad perspective of air should lessen the danger of Vesta’s narrow focus, and should also help avoid the danger of Jupiter grandiosity. Saturn is also very strong with its progressed conjunction to Mercury, and the Mars in Leo that may be in the 10th house adds to the power issues shown in the chart. But Dylan’s Aquarius Moon in the 4th house trine much of his Libra, and his Sun on Ceres in Virgo in the house of friends, do not look like a real dictator or a potential killer.
What Dylan’s chart looks like is a variation on what French psychologists called “dissociation”. As originally defined, the state was theorized to be a split between different parts of the conscious mind. In astrology, air symbolizes the intellect with its ability to detach, to literally separate ourselves from the physical and emotional levels of life, to analyze it from a distance. An over-emphasis on air could suggest a split between the conscious intellect and the ability to relate to the emotions of others (water) and/or to the practical consequences symbolized by earth in astrology. Fire is conscious of personal emotions. “I know what I want, and that is all that is important.” Earth is always aware of consequences. Bill and Monica are examples of excessive air and fire: highly verbal, driven by immediate impulses, with little thought about the future and the physical or emotional impact of their actions on others. I think that Dylan was really living in his head, playing a computer game, disconnected from both the emotional and physical pain being felt by his victims.
Dylan did have the expected asteroids in prominent positions. Libitina was on his Descendant opposite both the Ascendant and Vesta, and P Moon was conjunct P Jupiter as well as the Ascendant and Vesta while opposing Libitina. Both P Moon and P Jupiter also squared the Part of Death and P Medea, who killed her children. The latter two were in 17 Capricorn and P Mars was conjunct P Harris, quincunx the Arabic Part and Medea, and opposite the Moon. P Mars was also square Dylan’s Antivertex and Atropos, while P Atlantis, often associated with the abuse of power, had reached a conjunction with them. In addition to the T-square in 15 to 17 degrees of the fixed signs, another configuration included Hel (both N and P) in 25 Taurus, Nobel in 25 Leo, P Hybris (hubris) in 25 Scorpio within one degree of P Atropos and Uranus in 26 Scorpio. To add to the fixed emphasis, P Dresden was on P Chiron opposite Brooks, and Pluto held a long quincunx to Chiron. Chiron, along with Jupiter and Neptune, are keys to faith, and therefore to morals and ethics.
Dylan’s P Sun was connected to the configuration, conjunct Erigone (suicide) and trioctile Dresden. P Erigone was conjunct Jupiter. Does anyone still think Jupiter has to be benign or lucky? P Pluto was also conjunct Winchester and square Fanatica and Guernica, and P Hela had reached a conjunction with Pluto. P Winchester was on Venus and Kaiser, square P Guernica. P Vesta had also reached Venus, and P Venus was semisextile the Ascendant, Vesta, and P Moon. Does anyone still think Venus has to be benign? Dylan’s P Ascendant was on Themis (divine justice) and P Brown, and his P Antivertex was on P Eric and P Tyr, the Norse Mars. His P Epeios (who designed the Trojan horse that deceived the defenders of Troy) was on natal Eric. Dylan apparently conned his parents and the authorities, while Eric at least conned the authorities and was able to persuade his father that he was not really angry with the Browns. P Icarus in 23 Virgo was octile the P MC and square Neptune, Urania, and Karma in Sagittarius.
By this time, readers are probably bleary-eyed or skipping the details. The best way to really take in the new asteroids is to write them into the chart in red ink, but probably few have the time or patience to do that.
We will make a very short pass at the chart for the beginning of the massacre. During the interval given as the start of the shooting, from 11:15 to 11:21, transiting Mercury was crossing the MC, and the event certainly was covered by the media to the point of exhaustion. Eric was in 21 Aries, so during this same time the Ascendant was moving to square it, while Harris was retrograding in 7 Libra to reach the IC about the time the police arrived on the scene. Unfortunately, we do not have asteroids for either of Dylan’s names. But we do have both Brooks and Brown for the student who escaped, thanks to Eric’s warning. In his case, Jupiter performed traditionally, with a semisextile to Brown in 16 Taurus and a trine to Brooks in 15 Sagittarius. The teacher, David Sanders, was not so lucky, with Davida on Chiron quincunx the Moon and Sanders in 24 Pisces trioctile Vesta. Some day, the world will discover that consciousness is ultimate reality and these little planets are valuable keys to a meaningful world.
A friend in Boulder has sent me the birthdates of three of the kids killed in Littleton. Though I have no birthplaces or times, some readers might like to look at the planets for these victims. Rachel Scott was born on August 5, 1981. John Tomlin was born on September 1, 1982. Lauren Townsend was born on January 17, 1981.
As this article was being edited to describe the uncertainty over Dylan’s birth time, a new school shooting occurred in Conyers, GA. The 15-year-old sophomore in Heritage high school, T. J. Solomon, had a rifle and a handgun which belonged to his parents. He broke into a locked basement cabinet to get them and carried them to school on the school bus. He was initially described as a very quiet individual, a Boy Scout who had never been in any trouble. For the commentators who see religion as a cure-all for youth violence, he also attended church regularly. However, later information revealed that he had talked to friends about shooting people, and a month before the shooting incident he brought a gun to school. A fellow student reported the gun to the office, but the suspect had left the school for the day and the next day he did not bring a gun. Six students were wounded in the incident, fortunately none critically, as the suspect fired low and randomly rather than aiming at anyone. The incident occurred at 8:03 A.M. EDT on May 20, 1999, just one month after Littleton. Fellow students identified the shooter as T.J. Solomon and he was quickly taken into custody. There are lots of astrologers in nearby Atlanta, so we may get his birth data in time.
The chart for the shooting certainly features the appropriate asteroids. There were no deaths, so the death goddesses are less featured, but Winchester, the asteroid of guns, was conjunct the MC along with Sophia, the goddess of wisdom. Remember, a relevant asteroid may mean the presence of something, or its absence and a need for it. Astrology shows ISSUES. Guns were certainly present and wisdom was needed. The asteroid named Wisdom was on the IC, repeating the message. Mithra, the god of a religion mostly followed by soldiers and pirates, was on the Ascendant along with Orpheus who died for love. The Sun was also dramatic, conjunct Hephaistos (who made weapons), Nobel (inventor of dynamite), Williams (for Bill Clinton) and the midpoint of Ceres/Mars. Clinton’s push for stronger laws controlling the sale of guns was given a boost by this new incident on a day when he was visiting Littleton and meeting the parents of the students who had been killed there a month earlier.
The prominence of a midpoint involving Ceres led me to look for other keys to “mothering.” The Sun/Moon midpoint was on Ceres and on Megaira, one of the Furies. Megaira was the jealous one. I found Chandra, the Hindu goddess of the Moon, on the East Point, an auxiliary Ascendant, and Astarte was also there, an alternate Venus. Demeter, the Greek name for Ceres, was just past Ceres in 5 Cancer quincunx Juno, another Pluto, while Urania was on Juno. Urania was the Greek goddess of astrology, and is tentatively similar to Uranus though less often connected to rebellion and violence. Demeter was also octile Avicenna in 20 Leo (a healer or the need for healing) as well as Anacostia (for Washington, DC) and Eric in 20 Taurus. Janet Reno suggested that the Georgia shooting was a copycat crime related to Littleton. Demeter was also trioctile Dresden in 20 Aquarius (similar to Guernica) and Fidelio (Latin for faithful) in 20 Scorpio. Demeter was also sextile Georgia (for the location of the event) which was on Atlantis (abuse of power) in 6 Taurus, octile the Ascendant and quincunx Juno to form a yod. The Moon was on Laverna, the goddess of thieves, opposite Themis, divine justice, octile the Ascendant, and trioctile Artemis (another Venus) in 23 Sagittarius, as well as three asteroids in 22 to 23 Pisces: Child, Fanatica, and Yazhi. The latter is Navajo for a small boy, and Fanatica can point to any kind of extremism. Eros (love) and Karma (consequences) were both conjunct the Antivertex, another auxiliary Ascendant.
Venus was less strongly aspected, but Juno with its deep desire for a committed relationship was certainly involved in an incredible network of aspects. The collection just described obviously includes a mixture of asteroids for love, childhood, and parental issues. The initial news about the incident suggests that the shooter was upset over a broken romance, but from the high focus on the Moon and the “mother” asteroids, I suspect that Solomon was feeling desperately in need of nurturing though he apparently was looking for it from a peer. We will see if other information comes out about his family situation. A stepfather was mentioned in the news report. One of the penalties of mothers having to work outside the home to support their families is that they may be too time-pressured to be there for emotionally needy children. Did Solomon subconsciously feel his mother was “stolen” from him?
Like Venus, Mars was less heavily aspected, though it was octile Pluto with an orb of just over one degree. Of course, we can allow wider orbs for the traditional planets. Pluto also squared Guernica (attacks on innocent victims), which was in 9 Virgo, while Medea (who killed her children) was on Saturn quincunx Pluto. I found more Mars aspects when I checked some of the alternate factors in astrology, and they repeated the same theme of tension involving love and nurturing. Mars opposed the midpoint of Ceres/south lunar node (equivalent to another Moon), and it squared Ceres/Vesta, Ceres/north lunar node, and Moon/Venus. Mars was also conjunct the north node of Chiron, emphasizing the issue of faith. Mars symbolizes our faith in ourselves, and its position in the 5th house repeats that, while Chiron calls for faith in a higher power. According to the news media, Solomon was depressed and had talked previously of suicide. After shooting for just under ten minutes, he went into the hall, went down to his knees, put down the rifle, put his handgun in his mouth, but he did not pull the trigger. When an assistant principal asked for the gun, he gave it to him. The principal then put his arms around the boy who started crying and said “Oh God, I am so scared, I am so scared.”
As I was about to wrap up this article, I found out that the T of Solomon’s initials, T. J., stands for Thomas. The asteroid in the shooting chart is in 23 Capricorn 10, square to Jupiter but trine to Mercury. Mercury can signify the cleverness to get a rifle to school hidden in Solomon’s baggy pants, but Jupiter squares show poor judgment based on faith and morals. The asteroid Thomas was also quincunx the midpoint of Ascendant/Mars and the Ascendant would have moved into a one-degree quincunx to Thomas within two minutes, thus forming a yod into the 8th house of death through most of the shooting interval. All of the involved factors represent personal identity in action: the personal name, Ascendant, and Mars.
I did not find an asteroid named Solomon, but in his Asteroid Name Encyclopedia, Jacob Schwartz suggests that Sulamitis is the feminine form of Solomon which means peaceable. In the shooting chart, Sulamitis is in 24 Aquarius 25, aspecting several of the Ceres midpoints as well as conjunct Helio (a sun god for love, fame, power?), Potomac (the river in Washington, DC for the government involvement), and Ishtar (a Babylonian goddess sometimes equated with the Moon and sometimes with Venus). Among other aspects, Sulamitis is also octile Minerva (wisdom) in 9 Capricorn, trioctile Astraea (human justice) in 9 Cancer, as well as America in 9 Aries. It also squared Hathor in 24 Taurus, an Egyptian Venus. The aspects repeat the themes already noted.
A discussion on Jim Lehrer’s PBS news hour on the general subject of school violence brought out several important points. The commentators emphasized that school violence had been common for many years in inner city schools in poor areas. Mostly, it was blamed on single-parent homes and poverty and ignored by the rest of the country. But the Littleton massacre, as well as other recent school killings (7 in the past 2 years), were by white boys mostly in two-parent homes in reasonably good neighborhoods, and they got major attention. Solomon lived in an affluent area.
Some commentators emphasized the need to keep guns out of the hands of young people. Japanese young people watch even more violent video games than Americans, but they do not have access to guns. There were 15 murders with handguns in Japan in a recent year compared with about 10,000 in the U.S.
Obviously, each case is unique. Some of the young killers may be true psychopaths. Kip Kingel in Oregon showed such tendencies by torturing animals when he was young, and he killed his parents before his shooting spree in his school. But, most of the young school killers do not seem to have started life as truly abnormal individuals. We can conceptualize a continuum from the truly destructive, uncaring “monsters” who get a thrill from their power over others, to the ones gradually driven into angry violence by the torment of a hostile or indifferent environment, to those reacting with despair to what all the commentators saw as the major underlying problem: loneliness, isolation, and feeling threatened by the world. Kids were seen as more stressed, with busy parents, academic pressures in big, impersonal schools, home chores, and often part-time jobs as well, but the main problem was a lack of connection to loved ones and the society. Blavatsky said that the only sin was belief in separation.
Maybe we need a special category for the kids like Dylan and the two young killers in Arkansas who really seem to have turned life into a deadly computer game. It is true that, unlike Dylan, at least one of the Arkansas boys was described as “mean.” Someday, when psychologists discover the incredible value of astrology as a psychology, we will have full birth data and insight into such exceptional people, and we will look back on our materialistic world-view as another Dark Age.