The sign of Taurus is known for its earthy productiveness and stubbornness.
The higher level Taurus’ I know are fantastic people, attuned with nature, and are wondrously creative on the material plane. Low level Taurus’ can be explosive tyrants. Unable to transform their dark sides, they can do damage to others and there are quite a few mass murderers that were born under this sign There was Hitler, Jim Jones. There was Charles Whitman, Timothy McVeigh. Now there is Robert Hawkins, the killer of nine innocent people in an Omaha, Nebraska mall.
I was thinking about Taurus the other day and how difficult it is, once it goes wrong, to change its path and how important it is for these children to get off on the right foot from the very beginning. Robert Hawkins, apparently, was never on the right foot. When Jupiter came along and lit up his chart, he was pushed over the edge and couldn’t make a retreat. Transiting Jupiter (expansion) has been applying to a conjunction aspect with Pluto (power, destructiveness) for several days. This conjunction has also been making an opposition to Hawkins’ Chiron and coming close to a conjunction to his Saturn/Uranus and opposition Venus. Chiron tells us something about our psychological wounds. In the sign of Gemini, communications were a particularly thorny problem and with Venus, Saturn, Uranus, relationships also were painful and difficult. He just recently broke up with his girlfriend, which could have been one of the catalysts for his suicidal and murderous rampage.
Our thought patterns, our neurological circuits are set by the age of 7. After that, they’re very hard to change, particularly for those that are fixed signs, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius. Sun square Mars in fixed signs, like Robert had, is indicative of hostility to authority and self-destructiveness that eventually played out through murder and suicide. The problem with low level Taurus is that they seem peaceful as a pastured cow until pushed too far and then they turn into the raging bull. The people that knew Robert Hawkins never realized that he was capable of such a destructive act. Taurus holds a tremendous amount of energy inside for good or ill. Hatred simmers inside until it boils over and blows its cork.
Although Robert had been on anti-depressants, the root cause of his alienation and fixed destructive thinking patterns was, apparently, not addressed. This culture, despite the dedicated work of mental health care professionals, is failing in its ability to nurture and protect its young from abusive and toxic early childhood environments. An unhealthy attachment to the material plane and a failure to offer them access to spiritual paths other than religious fundamentalism is driving them to drugs and feelings of hopelessness. We have thousands and perhaps millions of children that fail to live productive lives because parents, educators, and politicians refuse to support the use of tools like astrology and psychology to determine what stress and obstacles they’ll face as they grow up and what talents they can use to give their lives meaning. And without a spiritual component, people live lives of quiet desperation.
Caitlin and John Matthews in their book Walkers Between the Worlds say, “wherever we turn, a collective loss of soul threatens our world. A sense of disorientation exists everywhere, derived from the rejection of the creative, mystical, and spiritual dimensions that have always sustained humankind. A literal mindedness that ignores the mystical dimensions of life has pervaded our culture, fostering a narrow and fearful spirit that turns to fundamentalist “certainties” for support.” Christianity as practiced by the fundamentalist right wing in this country is not a viable alternative. Only Christianity lived in the true spirit of Christ is a possible choice that helps to give our children meaning. Children should be supported in exploring other spiritual paths and religions as well.
The Matthews go on to say that we are still far away from universal social justice because spiritual principles are not being applied by governments. It’s obvious that George Bush and his henchman, Dick Cheney, don’t have a clue about applying spiritual principles to their daily lives so all of us can benefit. Unless we get an enlightened government elected in 2008, there will be many more tortured children and adults that destroy their lives and others because they experience such meaningless emptiness.
