It's hard to know what to write about Friday's tragic news from Aurora, Colorado. So many families left devastated - for no apparent reason. Most that could possibly be said, from all angles and points of view, has already been written many times over, internet-wide.
I do not feel right talking about the astrology of James Holmes in current circumstances, but do understand why it is of interest to astrology fans. Lynn Hayes has investigated his natal chart HERE.
Placing blame on any one factor, including astrological indications, seems to me to be the wrong way to look at the tragedy. A lethal combination of factors contributed to it, some we can pinpoint now, others will become clear in the future, when further details on Holmes and his history are eventually released.
One obvious key factor is the easy availability of, not just "a gun" but several extremely powerful guns, and a ridiclous amount of ammunition, said to have been purchased online. If Americans must have a gun, because they believe it to be their right under the Constitution, then let it be "one gun" - no more than a single weapon, with limited access to ammunition. Without his AR-15 rifle, his 12-gauge shotgun, and his two .40 caliber handguns, and enough ammunition to start a small war, the scale of this tragedy would have been much reduced. More than 70 families would not be in shock today.
A second factor is the increasing amount and increasing depth of violence presented as entertainment. I know the old argument that people, and even children, have always been "entertained" by violence - in fairy tales, cowboy films and various comic books. When the violence is brought home in the form of interactive video games, or enlarged to massive screens with CGI enhanced images, violence is being ingrained into the psyches of viewers and gamers in a way comic books and fairy tales could never have achieved. In the case of this most recent deadly shooting news accounts suggest that Holmes had dyed his hair red and told the police he was the Joker, a character from the Batman series.
The killer's state of mind is a third factor - we cannot know his motive, or whether he had a motive other than to draw attention to himself. His mind must surely have been unbalanced though, either temporarily by drug use or chronically due to mental illness which had, so far, gone undetected.
A fourth key factor is the fact that people in general have become insensitised to violence, not only to mass murders on and by their own citizens at home, but also to what they allow their President and their government to do in their name.....drones are killing innocent bystanders, some children, on a regular basis and few in the USA seem to care.
A mix of all of the above coming together, not forgetting astrological pointers indicated by the astrologer's piece, linked above, brought this most recent tragedy to one of the US's most beautiful states, a state which has suffered badly, too, from destructive wildfire in recent weeks.
I still cannot understand, though, why young men - and it is almost always young men involved in these tragedies, unleash their rage on innocent people, with apparently no link to anything which might be the cause of such rage.
NOTE:
There have been 6 random mass-shootings in the US so far this year:
July 19, Aurora, Colo: Gunman shoots into a movie theater, killing 12 and injuring 50 others.
July 17, Tusaloosa, Ala: Gunman shoots into a bar, injuring 17.
May 30, Seattle, Wash: Gunman shoots into cafe and later carjacks a woman, killing five and injuring one others.
April 7, Tulsa, Okla: Two gunmen accused of shooting passersby in a north Tulsa neighborhood, killing three and injuring two others.
April 2, Oakland, Calif: Gunman opens fire on classroom at Oikos University, killing seven and injuring three others.
March 3, Pittsburgh, Pa.: A gunman opens fire on a psychiatric hospital in Pittsburgh, killing one person and injuring seven more.
February 27, Chardon, Ohio: Teenager shoots into high school cafeteria, killing three and injuring three others.
When will enough be enough?
I do not feel right talking about the astrology of James Holmes in current circumstances, but do understand why it is of interest to astrology fans. Lynn Hayes has investigated his natal chart HERE.
Placing blame on any one factor, including astrological indications, seems to me to be the wrong way to look at the tragedy. A lethal combination of factors contributed to it, some we can pinpoint now, others will become clear in the future, when further details on Holmes and his history are eventually released.
One obvious key factor is the easy availability of, not just "a gun" but several extremely powerful guns, and a ridiclous amount of ammunition, said to have been purchased online. If Americans must have a gun, because they believe it to be their right under the Constitution, then let it be "one gun" - no more than a single weapon, with limited access to ammunition. Without his AR-15 rifle, his 12-gauge shotgun, and his two .40 caliber handguns, and enough ammunition to start a small war, the scale of this tragedy would have been much reduced. More than 70 families would not be in shock today.
A second factor is the increasing amount and increasing depth of violence presented as entertainment. I know the old argument that people, and even children, have always been "entertained" by violence - in fairy tales, cowboy films and various comic books. When the violence is brought home in the form of interactive video games, or enlarged to massive screens with CGI enhanced images, violence is being ingrained into the psyches of viewers and gamers in a way comic books and fairy tales could never have achieved. In the case of this most recent deadly shooting news accounts suggest that Holmes had dyed his hair red and told the police he was the Joker, a character from the Batman series.
The killer's state of mind is a third factor - we cannot know his motive, or whether he had a motive other than to draw attention to himself. His mind must surely have been unbalanced though, either temporarily by drug use or chronically due to mental illness which had, so far, gone undetected.
A fourth key factor is the fact that people in general have become insensitised to violence, not only to mass murders on and by their own citizens at home, but also to what they allow their President and their government to do in their name.....drones are killing innocent bystanders, some children, on a regular basis and few in the USA seem to care.
A mix of all of the above coming together, not forgetting astrological pointers indicated by the astrologer's piece, linked above, brought this most recent tragedy to one of the US's most beautiful states, a state which has suffered badly, too, from destructive wildfire in recent weeks.
I still cannot understand, though, why young men - and it is almost always young men involved in these tragedies, unleash their rage on innocent people, with apparently no link to anything which might be the cause of such rage.
NOTE:
There have been 6 random mass-shootings in the US so far this year:
July 19, Aurora, Colo: Gunman shoots into a movie theater, killing 12 and injuring 50 others.
July 17, Tusaloosa, Ala: Gunman shoots into a bar, injuring 17.
May 30, Seattle, Wash: Gunman shoots into cafe and later carjacks a woman, killing five and injuring one others.
April 7, Tulsa, Okla: Two gunmen accused of shooting passersby in a north Tulsa neighborhood, killing three and injuring two others.
April 2, Oakland, Calif: Gunman opens fire on classroom at Oikos University, killing seven and injuring three others.
March 3, Pittsburgh, Pa.: A gunman opens fire on a psychiatric hospital in Pittsburgh, killing one person and injuring seven more.
February 27, Chardon, Ohio: Teenager shoots into high school cafeteria, killing three and injuring three others.
When will enough be enough?
Americans do have a propensity for closing the barn door after the horse is gone.
ReplyDeleteIt was a very subtle move: When the private citizen’s right to own a gun for protection or hunting became the private citizen’s right to own weapons designed for warfare and mass killing. When did it happen?
Why did it happen? Money.
anyjazz ~~ Re the barn door - as I see it it remains open at all times - nobody dares to even push it a wee bit so as it's half-way closed for fear of upsetting the sainted NRA.
ReplyDeleteWhat do our President and our Would-be President have to say on this? That they will pray on it.
Excuse me while I go bash my head against the wall and will find it hard to stop!!!!!
I guess you're right about the money aspect as another thread in the the venomous network - yes!
One acronym:
ReplyDeleteNRA
XO
WWW
Wisewebwoman ~~ Yes. Three letters that seem to strike fear into the hearts of all politicians (or into their wallets).
ReplyDeleteWe always agreed on this subject, Twilight. There's an interesting (and sane) viewpoint on the BBC website, by Rod Dreher, senior editor at 'The American Conservative'.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18877454
RJ Adams ~~ Thanks for the link, RJ. Yes, good article.
ReplyDeleteThese words from it especially:the gun control issue is not about reason and dispassionate analysis of the facts. It's about emotional assertion and rhetorical bullying amid an atmosphere of mutual incomprehension.
Evidence is easily available in just about any string of comments beneath relevant articles anywhere on the net.
Lynn Hayes' interpretation of the facts or the chart were not accurate, so if I were you, I wouldn't link to it.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, blaming guns, video games, and movies is the easy way out when you don't want to deal with the fact that there were mass murders before technology happened and that the need to kill is ingrained in some people not because of technology, but because of their psychology. To admit that someone like Holmes is a human being and not a monster terrifies people like yourself.
Anonymous ~~ Your advice is no doubt offered in good faith, but I take exception to your comments.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I'm sure that if Lynn Hayes, a well-respected astrologer, finds that her interpretation needs amendment she will update it, therefore I shall leave the link to it here.
Erm...."people like myself"
??? How do you know me sufficiently well to make that comment?
I have written in posts here on several occasions that there is ingrained in every human the seeds of monstrosity. It comes due to having been born on planet Earth.
In some of us such inclinations are stronger, due to other influences or other factors.
If you read what I have written carefully you'll note that I do not "blame guns video games and movies" in what you term as an easy way out. I propose that it was the coming together of these factors with a mind and circumstance ripe for some evil act, such as took place on Friday.
No single element alone would have brought the event about.
personally I think actions like the ones in Aurora are born of hate. And unfortunately feeding this type of hate with attention sets the stage for a growth of hate. It's evident in many posts I've seen about this all over the web, as well as some of the comments submitted to your wonderful blog.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather look at this (tragedy), and every instance like this as an opportunity to reflect within (which you seem to have done with your sensitive blog).....and not use the issue as a sounding board of any kind, because frankly....negativity begets negativity.
So I can understand FULLY why you hesitated to even comment on the astrological aspects of a common killer. Well.. maybe not so common....but a killer all the same. Like all of us....our actions come from a hidden personal "within" that even the best of psychiatrists, astrologers or anyone else for that matter, can only guess at. This is indeed what I refer to as Human nature.....elusive as a cloud but as wet as the rain.
Like you said....a result of being born here on this mysterious....yet STILL wonderful, planet earth.
DC ~~~ Thank you for your gentle and calming assessment of the situation.
ReplyDeleteI agree that hate has to be at root of these incidents,
whether additional, more precise, motive is present or not.
I turned back to the post published on 12 July "Hatred the madness of the heart", and read it again, including description of the movie Steel Toes", and found myself wondering whether this killer's defence lawyer will be anything like the lawyer portrayed in that story.