Stephen Paddock’s horoscope

The Las Vegas shooting massacre last week was horrific.
Stephen Paddock killed 58 and injured hundreds. What was his motivation for mass murder? To date, nothing has been uncovered. Although mental illness may have been a contributing factor. Stephen Paddock’s horoscope doesn’t specifically tell us his motives either.

But it does give a general overview of his character and the tensions in his life this year. These correlate reasonably well with what’s reported in the media to date.

Paddock’s birth certificate says he was born in Clinton, Iowa, on April 9th, 1953, at 11:05 am, according to Astrodatabank.com.

Sun-Venus conjunction

Paddock’s Sun and Venus are in Aries, conjunct (or ‘next to each other’). This conjunction is shown by the blue oval, above. Both of these planets are ‘angular’ in his horoscope, in the 10th house. Which is the house of career and vocation.

Planets in angular houses (1st, 4th, 7th, 10th) are ‘loud.’ Their qualities are prominent and visible in the person. In Paddock’s case it indicates someone with a robust action-oriented ego (Sun in Aries). And who can at times appear ‘sweet’ (Venus) when the occasion suits him.

And since the conjunction is in the 10th house of career and vocation, these characteristics will be most visible in this area of his life.

The Sun is one’s identity, ego. Venus is love, desire and ‘what we value.’ Here, these two energies are intertwined because of the conjunction. Which means Paddock may in some sense ‘love himself’ and what he does (Mars, action planet). Or he believes his ego deserves love and attention, and he’s assertive (Aries) expressing this.

Venus in Stephen Paddock’s horoscope is in poor condition. In traditional (as opposed to ‘modern psychological’) astrology, we say Venus in his horoscope is ‘afflicted’, or challenged in several ways. An afflicted planet has a harder time expressing its more positive qualities.

Paddock’s Venus is afflicted in several ways: by being ‘combust’ (within 8.5° of the Sun), retrograde, and in Aries, the sign of Venus’ detriment. And Venus is furthermore opposed by Saturn (red arrow, above).

All of the above contribute to difficulty in the Venus parts of life for Paddock.

Sun-Venus opposite Saturn-Neptune

Paddock’s Sun-Venus is in an opposition aspect (about 180°) to Saturn. This indicates the potential for Paddock to feel ‘opposed’ by anything or anyone seen as ‘an authority’ (Saturn). These authorities would contradict his ego (Sun).

The would appear to ‘get in the way’ of his self-expression and what he values (Venus). This is a permanent tension in Paddock’s life, which from time to time will be futher activated by a particular transit, solar arc, or progression.

Saturn is also conjunct Neptune. Neptune brings idealism, delusion, lack of clarity. And the possibility of being deceived, confused by the ‘authorities’ that oppose him.

At worst he could perceive these Saturnian authority opponents through a paranoid and delusional lens. This is because he lacks a clear sense of reality about what they actually are. It might seem his opponents ‘could be everywhere.’

Uranus square Sun

Uranus is a disruptive, changeable and erratic quality; one that’s also unique and original.

And here (green arrow, above) Paddock’s Uranus is in a square aspect (about 90°) his Sun. This indicates suddenness and unusual aspet to his behaviour, particularly around his ego and sense of self (Sun).

This aspect indicates inconsistency. Someone who regularly switches between various options and behaviours at short notice.

It’s very Uranian that that he owned many homes, but lived in few. That he was wealthy but dressed as if he was not. And he could be incredibly generous to some, and harsh and dismissive to others. These are typical quirky, eccentric Uranian behaviours.

Pluto square Jupiter, opposite Moon

A Jupiter-Pluto hard aspect (conjunction, square, opposition) in a horoscope is the ‘gambler’s signature’ (purple arrow, above and below).

And Paddock was a gambler. He made (and sometimes lost) considerable amounts of money. Jupiter-Pluto people are not afraid to ‘risk big,’ to make big bets. Pluto is power. Jupiter is money, wealth, luck, opportunity.

And he also has Pluto opposition to his Moon (red arrow, above). This aspect denotes Paddock’s emotional (Moon) power (Pluto) and intensity. And since his Moon rules his Cancer Ascendant, this emotional intensity is a clear and visible feature of his personality.

Jupiter is also in a square aspect his Moon (blue arrow, above). Together, this Pluto, Moon, Jupiter planetary pattern is what astrologers call a ‘T-square’.

It is a powerful combination of tension and force that in his case plays out through is Jupiter – money, wealth, luck. This can be used positively, or negatively. We know that he was a serious and methodical gambler, and did well financially.

Life event: Las Vegas shootings

So far we have painted the picture of an very intense person. Someone with a constant sense of opposition by ‘authorities’ and a lack of clarity (and possibly fantasy) about who or what those authorities are. Are they real (Saturn), or imagined (Neptune)?

Let’s now look at the day of the shooting, which also shows astrological themes in the months prior to this horrific event.

Stephen Paddock’s horoscope is in the middle circle in the chart below. The chart is arranged using the ’90° dial’ system. In this system conjunctions, squares and opposition aspects all display as conjunctions. This makes it visually easier to see the main astrological patterns.

The middle circle is Solar Arc Directions for the 1st of October 2017. And the outer circle is transits for the same day.

 

PLUTO

Solar Arc Directed (SAD) Pluto is situated here between his natal (horoscope) Neptune and Saturn (in the blue oval, above).

SAD Pluto is separating (moving away), by about one degree, from a close aspect to both Paddock’s Neptune and Ascendant. This tells us about his past year, because SAD planets and points move at roughly one degree per year of life.

This means that in the recent past, Pluto ‘pushed’ or amplified his natal Neptune to prominence. And this push also affected and impacted his personality (SAD Pluto to Ascendant).

On January 26th, 2017, SAD Pluto’s aspects would have been exact to Neptune and Ascendant. The SAD Pluto’s powerful influence would have been strongest around this time.

Pluto’s general planetary energy is one of power, force and drive. Here, SAD Pluto activates Paddock’s natal Neptune and its conjunction with Saturn. And turbo-charges the Neptune-Saturn opposition to his Sun-Venus.

His view (mentioned above) that he is ‘opposed’ by undefined and mysterious (Neptune) authority (Saturn) had been considerably amplified and intensified in the months leading up to the events of October 1st. One manifestation of this, at worst, could be paranoia and fear of mysterious ‘dark forces’.

Another manifestation might relate to drugs. Mind-altering drugs are Neptunian by nature. And it is known that he had taken Valium (Diazepam) and alcohol in the months prior to October 1st.

SAD MOON TO SATURN, SAD JUPITER TO VENUS

Also in the above chart is SAD Moon to Saturn and SAD Jupiter to Venus (blue oval, above). His Moon rules his Cancer Ascendant, and its connection with Saturn indicates a time of hardship (Saturn) in terms of personality (Ascendant) and emotional security (Moon).

He may feel (Moon) more restricted (Saturn) than usual during these months.

SAD Jupiter to Venus amplifies and exaggerates his afflicted Venus. Which also affects his ego (Venus conjunct Sun), and perhaps increasing or exaggerating (Jupiter) his ‘desire’ (Venus) to ‘be someone’ (Sun). Or to make some kind of mark on the world; however sinister and repulsive.

And if all this describes the ‘big picture’, transiting Saturn to his Mercury (orange oval, above) shows a possible ‘trigger’ on a more day-to-day level.

Saturn is inhibition, hardship, authority. Mercury is speech, thinking.

So just in the week before the shooting, he would have experienced something or someone ‘blocking’ (Saturn) his thinking or communication (Mercury).

And his thinking/communication is very open-ended. Because Paddock’s Mercury is in Pisces, a watery, sensitive sign ruled by Jupiter. Communication for Paddock is thus fairly unconstrained, and wide-ranging and sensitive.

Finally, there is transiting Pluto to SAD Mars (red oval) and transiting Mars to SAD Uranus (orange oval). I’m not familiar with transits to SADs, but it looks like they reinforce the violence (Mars), suddenness (Uranus) and powerful energies (Pluto) at play in his life at this time.

Stephen Paddock’s horoscope: summary

He’s a gambler. He’s abrupt, self-confident and dislikes authority. He comes across as emotionally intense, has strong sense of being ‘right’.

His perceived adversaries (Sun-Venus opposite Neptune-Saturn) could be anyone or any agency; real or imagined.

Neptune blurs the scope and reality of the authorities/adversaries (Saturn) he’s dealing with. If he is prone to paranoia or delusion (aided by Neptunian drugs and alcohol?) then this blur will be amplified.

Particularly so during a year when SAD Pluto activates (turbocharges) his horoscope’s Neptune-Saturn combination. This increases the stress of the Neptune-Saturn opposite Sun-Venus. It increases the perceived intensity and ‘darkness’ of invisible and intangible adversaries restricting him.

But none of what we’ve seen in Stephen Paddock’s horoscope can account for what he did. Other people also have ‘tough’ horoscopes. But they don’t commit mass murder.

Perhaps it is simply that he had, as one media report suggests, a severe undiagnosed mental illness.

His horrific act has ruined lives. My prayers go out to the victims, the survivors, their families and friends.

If you wish to make to donation to help victims of the Las Vegas shooting, visit the offical GoFundMe website, which has so far raised $10 million.

Note: I’ve revised and edited this post several times. The above is version 3: October 11th, 2017.