The Golden State Killer started out as a creeper, peeping and ransacking hundreds of homes. He devolved into a rapist, with over 50 known rapes, and finally into a serial killer, killing at least 13 people. He never would have been caught except for the novel use of using his DNA and tracing him on genealogy sites.
Since we don’t have a birth time for Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., we can’t draw a chart in the usual way. Without a time we don’t know what sign was on the eastern horizon when he took his first breath in this world. This would establish which sign is in the first house. This puts us at quite a disadvantage since we don’t know which planets own which houses. But, in the Jyotish astrology tradition, often the chart is looked at from the Moon as a secondary ascendent, putting whatever sign the Moon is in that day as the 1st house. Indian astrologers highly value the Moon, usually more than the Sun. The Moon shows the inner dimension of the emotions; the feeling part of the mind. The Moon is connected to the Manus; the part of the mind that collects and processes sensory data. If the Moon is disturbed in a chart, the chart owner may have an inaccurate perception of the world, making it harder to function in the world. I assume his life story and his crimes are heavily tied into his mind and emotions. Even with just a Moon chart, I’m amazed by the picture that unfolds.
First off we see the Moon very close to Ketu. Ketu is the headless half of the South Node. Headless Ketu acts on instinct without thinking. Ketu on the Moon can bring strong subconscious impulses and drives that grasp and overpower the mind. Some Jyotish astrologers consider Ketu to be a co-owner of Scorpio. Scorpio is the Marsian 8th sign in the natural zodiac. Scorpions hide in crevices and are feared for their quick striking poisonous tail. Being the 8th sign, Scorpio and the 8th house share some common attributes: secrets, death, murder, crime, rape, mental illness and much more along those lines. Ketu is often thought of as spiritual. His nature is to renounce, cut off, give up, leave behind. If favorably placed in the 12th house and aspected by a strong Jupiter, one might find success in spiritual practices. But Ketu is a natural malefic and in Vedic astrology natural malefics like Ketu have a role of disturbing and bringing unwanted events and conditions. Ketu on the Moon suggests disturbance to the normal functions of the Moon and therefore the mind. Ketu acts like Mars; he is explosive, can be violent, can be connected to phobias and disturbances of all sorts, there are sometimes sudden harsh endings and cutting of relationships when connecting to relationship factors in a chart. Secrets and secretive behaviors are a nodal possibility and sometimes can indicate perversions, addictions, and inability to control impulses and cravings. Interestingly, his crimes began after he was rejected by a woman he wanted to marry. One of his victims heard him saying her name as he raped her. Ketu rejects and is terrified of rejection.
The Moon is new and not bright. A new Moon can be vulnerable and insecure, especially if afflicted by a strong natural malefic. This Moon and it’s afflictor Ketu, are in the Nakshatra Mula, owned by Ketu. Mula is a dry barren wasteland owned by the Goddess Narriti, a name for Rudra, the Goddess of death known for calamity, destruction, corruption, and death. By its self, this one factor would not be enough to declare, ‘serial killer’. But this is a weak and vulnerable Moon very close to Ketu. Ketu is empowered by being in its own nakshatra and unlike the other grahas, the nodes are stronger at early and late degrees. Ketu is strong and the Moon is weak. Read the story of Rahu and Ketu, where Vishnu cut them in half for sneaking into the circle of the Gods who were drinking Soma. The nodes can make someone be nefarious, have bad boundaries, inappropriate, and twisted in their actions and morals.
Rahu is in Ardra, lorded by the fierce howling God Rudra. This nodal nakshatra placement, ie Mula/Ardra, is one of the most difficult. This was where the nodes were in February 2020 as COVID 19 was picking up steam in the world in its beginning days. The Rudras are the atmospheric Gods described in the Vedas. They are associated with life’s more difficult side: terrible and fierce like a “formidable wild beast”. “cringing fear, whose wrath is to be deprecated”. This is said to bring powerful malice, fear, cruelty, lawlessness, perversity, self-centered attitudes, resulting in rivers of tears. This Rahu in Ardra is in the 7th house from the Moon and has something to show us about his inner mental state in relationship to 7th house issues: sex, relationships, ‘the other’. Other examples of Rahu in Ardra are 9/11, Hiroshima, the AIDS outbreak, and the JFK assassination.
Ketu and Rahu are creating Kali Sarpa Yoga, famous for epic rises and falls. The Moon and Ketu are close and moving towards each other. Ketu is the headless tail of the snake, and when the conditions are right, can be driven by unconscious destructive forces, patterns and compulsions from past lives. Jail is one of the possibilities with this yoga, especially if on the 6/8 or 2/12 axis. We don’t know what sign is in his ascendent, but I find this intriguing.
Natural malefics can be troublesome. Add strength and/or weakness, then more so. Put them next to each other, then more so. Joe’s Mars is debilitated and about 4 degrees from a retrograde Saturn. If you make the Moon the first house, they end up in the 8th house of crime and such. Mars is the graha of battles and fighting and passion and anger. When Mars in afflicted by other natural malefics, then Mars’s more undesirable qualities can arise. Add the fact that it’s in the 8th and debilitated, then one can expect some unruly results where Mars sits and where it aspects. A good Saturn is a noble and valuable asset to a chart. But a retrograde Saturn is extremely powerful and may bring forth its harsher side. Now add a close-said by debilitated Mars and you get a pressure cooker. Saturn holds down, Mars builds up and explodes out. Saturn aspects Jupiter and Mars aspects Venus and Sun.
His crimes were directed against women, but he often involved the men who were there, traumatizing them as well. Interestingly, his Venus is strong in the 7th sign of Libra. Sun joins Venus and is debilitated. Both are aspected by this very disturbed Mars. Venus and Moon are women, Ketu and Mars can be violent and in this chart they are afflicting the women. Saturn’s and the 8th house influence rubs off on that Mars here, adding the cruelty, pain and death.
A debilitated Sun, with a powerful Venus, in the 7th sign of union, aspected by debilitated Mars, suggests to me big ego, desire and control issues with women.
Violent serial offenders tend to be men and invariably you’ll find the major malefics Saturn, Mars, and/or the nodes tied up with Venus, or the 7th house or 7th Lord. The trik houses also play an important supporting role in describing planets gone wrong in a chart. All the trik houses, 6-8-12 and let’s throw in the 3rd house as well, disrupt the desirable qualities of a planet. The 3rd and 6th houses can be fighting houses and can be factors pointing to a violent nature. The 8th and 12th houses can be secretive and deviant, Saturn is the karaka. Some examples include:
Bill Cosby has Ketu and Venus in the 8th house aspected by Mars and Saturn.
Ted Bundy has Sun, Mars, Mercury, Moon and Ketu all in the 4th house of emotions.
John Wayne Gacy has Ketu in the house of emotions, with Saturn and Mars in the 7th house of sex. Saturn aspects Ketu and Mars aspects Rahu. Most of his sexually motivated murders were in his Ketu period.
Donald Trump was caught on tape talking about how he can’t control himself and loves to assault women by grabbing their crotch. At least 26 women have accused him of sexual assault, including rape. He also has a long list of other crimes. Trump has his debilitated Moon right next to Ketu in the house of emotions. There has been an international agreement amongst mental health professionals that he is a malignant narcissist and a sociopath.
Vedic astrology has a unique contribution to astrology with its shadow grahas. The ‘Upa-Grahas’ are mathematical points that can be calculated for a chart. They cannot be seen or heard, but their disturbing influence can be felt according to how they are placed in a chart. There are about 14 of them, so they can be spread all over a chart. In this study, I am only noting when one of them is very close to a planet.
UpaKetu is a negative Ketu, a secondary Ketu. It is said to be like a flame capable of considerable destruction. Upaketu in his chart is a direct hit, Jupiter is at 20’51 and UpaKetu is at 20’50. Jupiter is the great benefic that can bring wisdom and blessings. No doubt his Jupiter’s ability to give him higher qualities is diminished by this association.
Parivesha is a second Shadow Graha that is extremely close to Jupiter, sitting at 23’49. Parivesha is said to be akin to a very disturbed Moon and causing dearth, pollution, and destroying whatever is nearby.
Mandi is said to be one of the worst of the Upa-grahas, capable of causing one to become a thief, cruel, arrogant, and ignorant. Joe’s Mandi is at 2’30 and his Moon is at 3’35.
In Vedic numerology, the number 8 is associated with Saturn. Saturn is a planet of pain and struggles and hard lessons in life. Like Lord Shiva, Saturn is a destroyer. On the high end, Saturn destroys ignorance, kills that which holds us down, so that we might rise up. But Saturn’s lessons are usually hard ones, and often ones we wouldn’t choose for our selves. Saturn is the signifier, know as karaka, for the 8th house. Many of Saturn’s meanings overlap with the meanings of the 8th house. As the karaka, if Saturn isn’t doing well in a chart, then the meanings and indications of the 8th house will suffer.
The 8th house has amongst its meaning,s deep suffering, painful loss, and death. The 8th sign is Scorpio, ruled by the violent Mars, aka Mangala. Mangala is often associated with Kartikeya the God of war, the son of Shiva. The 8th from any house in a chart will be a place of detriment to that house. And the 8th from any planet is also a place of detriment to that graha.
The 64th navamsa shows sensitive and dangerous places in a horoscope. Jyotish software will calculate these points for you. Usually, this point is calculated from the Lagna, i.e. the ascendant degree, and also from the degree the Moon is in. The Lord of the 64th navamsa is empowered to do great harm in a chart, and planets placed in, or transiting through the 64th navamsa are harmed. This calculation can also be made for any planet in a chart, showing a special toxic spot 8 houses from that planet, a 3’20 navamsa that becomes a dangerous segment for that planet.
Using this idea, we find that Joe’s Saturn is in that very spot, the 64th navamsa, as calculated from the Shadow Graha Mandi. Amazingly, the 64 navamsa from his Moon is where Mars sits! Jupiter is in the 64 navamsa from the Shadow Graha Mirityu. Mrityu is the son of Mars. He brings agitation, animosity, restlessness, and harm.
Another fascinating and unique feature in Vedic astrology is the Drekkanas. Each sign in the zodiac gets 3 equal divisions of 10 degrees, making 36 drekkanas. Sage Varahamihira describes each drekkana in his book, Brihat Jataka. Each drekkana is given a description full of symbols and images.
One category of drekkana is called Sarpa Drekkana. Snakes are a potent symbol around the world, not always negative. DeAngelo’s Mercury is in a Sarpa Drekkana, possible meanings include imprisonment, restrained, wily demon, creeping, crawling, stealing along, a wicked man, a cheat, deceptive, manipulative, seductive, and sexual.
Another drekkana category is called Arudha. With planets in these drekkanas, the person might be assertive, aggressive, angry, or violent. Often you will see someone in the security field, Joe was a cop when he started his crimes. They might have weapons, be athletic, and employ verbal weapons. DeAngelo had a history of very harsh speech, he used various weapons in his crimes and he was known for his physical prowess when he escaped several times. His planets in Arudha drekkanas include Sun, Moon, and Ketu.
We likely will never get The Golden State Killer’s birth time. With the birth time, we would know if planets are in the difficult trik houses and who the trik lords are. We’d know which houses are the maraka houses, houses that can indicate death and troubles. Without knowing which house is the 1st house, we can’t know what yogas are formed that might shed some light on his darkness. But even without the birth time, we can see that virtually every planet has some disturbances that we’d expect in a serial killer.
