Who Will Survive?

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In this article Ken Gillman, editor of Considerations, uses classical astrology techniques to predict which of the children in the Dunblane massacre were most likely to survive the assault. It is a beautiful piece of research for several reasons: 1. In the group of people Ken uses, it is clear who has the condition and who doesn’t. 2. Each member of the group has an equal chance of living or dying. 3. Ken comes to the study with a hypothesis formed from astrological theory. It is a fascinating and well executed study. –Mark

Just before 9:30 AM on Wednesday, March 13th 1996, Thomas Watt Hamilton, wearing ear protectors and carrying four hand guns, entered Dunblane Primary School (56N11, 3W58) and made his way to the gymnasium. He shot and injured a teacher as he went through the door and at 9:32 AM opened fire for three minutes on the class and staff. He then stepped outside and fired a few more shots before reentering the gym and killing himself with a single bullet fired into his mouth. Of the original thirty children in the class, fifteen were killed outright, one died later in the day, eleven received gunshot wounds, one escaped physical injury altogether, one had been absent that day and one had left the school and the area a few months earlier. The class teacher was killed in the gym and two other teachers were injured.

The birth data for most of the children is available (source: birth certificates), we have the time and place for thirteen survivors and fourteen of those who were killed. Can we distinguish between the children who died and those who survived on the basis of their natal horoscopes?

I believe we can.

A comparison of the birth charts with the nativity of the killer, Thomas Watt Hamilton (born 8:50 a.m. BST on May 10, 1952 in Glasgow: 55N53, 4W15), does not provide this information. Both survivors and victims have similar aspect connections to Hamilton. A similar comparison of the charts to the prior lunations also fails to discriminate between victim and survivor.

The older astrological books abound with aphorisms indicating whether the native will die violently or not. I began with compiling a list of these but stopped when I failed to identify any obvious system involved. I was about to give up on tradition altogether when I remembered the listing William Lilly gives on page 644 in Christian Astrology, a book that has attained a biblical reputation to many astrologers in recent times. This is a systematic approach, but does it work?

Lilly's indications of a violent death

1. Both lights in violent signs, not both in the same sign, which do not aspect each other, indicate a violent death.
2. Both lights with violent fixed stars, within 5º, especially if Asc-ruler and 8th-ruler are also conjunct either of the lights, or if either of the lights is ruler of the Asc or 8th house.
3. Either the Sun or Moon is in a violent sign and the other is with a violent fixed star and one of the malefics aspects either the Sun, Moon or 8th-ruler.
4. Both lights conjunct, square or opposite Mars and Saturn, with one of the lights and a malefic in a violent sign or with a violent fixed star.
5. Both lights afflicted by one malefic and the other malefic impeded or in a violent sign and having dignity in the 8th.
6. Mars conjunct Saturn in an angle, especially the MC, in a violent sign.
7. Mars conjunct, square, opposite or MR Saturn in any signs in any house if one of them is "challenging power in the 8th."
8. A malefic in the 8th and the 8th-ruler afflicted by a malefic from a violent sign, with one or both lights afflicted or in a violent sign.
9. 8th-ruler in Asc in his Fall or Detriment or in a violent sign or with violent fixed stars, and a light afflicted by a malefic.
10. 8th-ruler in his Fall or Detriment afflicted by a malefic, and a light or the other malefic in a violent sign.
11. Asc-ruler in a violent sign or afflicted by a malefic, and the dispositor of the appropriate light (Sun in diurnal, Moon in nocturnal) also in a violent sign or afflicted.
12. Asc-ruler is a malefic and is in the 8th afflicted.
13. Asc-ruler in 8th in a violent sign and square or opposite a malefic.
14. Asc-ruler or 8th-ruler is dispositor of a light, in detriment or fall, and a malefic afflicting the other light in a violent sign.
15. Moon in 7th in a sign containing violent fixed stars and square or opposite the Sun, or a malefic is in the 8th or ruling the 8th, and both are in violent signs.
16. If either Venus or Jupiter is in the Asc and the other in the 8th house – death will not be sudden or violent.

In the event I find that of Lilly's 15 conditions for a violent death two of them by themselves clearly identify children who failed to survive this dreadful attack. The presence of the others, when coupled with other indicators, are also necessary conditions for predicting a violent death.

It is important to note that while these indications do distinguish the survivors from the victims in the Dunblane massacre, they may not necessarily be applicable on other occasions where the ratio of victims to survivors is more extreme. However, I strongly suspect that in any act of violence against a group of individuals in which a goodly proportion survive the ordeal, the indications found at Dunblane will also distinguish the survivors from the victims.

In this listing of conditions Lilly defines Violent signs as being those a malefic (Saturn or Mars) rules or is exalted in, namely Aries, Libra, Scorpio, Capricorn and Aquarius.

The violent fixed stars Lilly used (see Table 1) were Caput Meduse (Algol, a star of a Mars-Saturn nature, now at 26º Taurus), Oculus (Aldebaran, Mars nature, 10º Gemini), Hercules (Pollux, Mars nature, 23º Cancer), the star at the right shoulder of Orion (Betelgeuze, of a Mercury-Mars nature, 29º Gemini), Cor Scorpio (Antares, Mars-Jupiter nature, 10º Sagittarius) and Chelae (Southern Scale, Mars-Saturn nature, 15º Scorpio).

To these six I arbitrarily added two more: Hamal, also known as El Nath and considered to be of the nature of Mars and Saturn, at 7.5º Taurus and, although distant from the ecliptic, Phachd (Mars nature, 30º Leo), which Ebertin has indicted as a possible cause of great blood baths when transited by Neptune.

With the 5º orb about these stars Lilly suggests, a planet located in any of the following degrees is with a violent fixed star:

Analysis

Let's first evaluate the fifteen Lilly aphorisms. The defined conditions occurred on nineteen occasions among the fourteen children who were killed and ten times among those who survived this senseless attack.

Lilly's conditions # 3 and 4 stand out as being possibly valid indications of a violent death. When these occurred in the chart of a Dunblane child or teacher death was violent and unexpected.

Lilly condition # 3: Either the Sun or Moon is in a violent sign and the other is with a violent fixed star and one of the malefics aspects either the Sun, Moon or 8th-house ruler.

Lilly condition # 4: Both lights conjunct, square or opposite Mars and Saturn, with one of the lights and a malefic in a violent sign or with a violent fixed star.

Angularity

Planets close to the angles, those conjunct or opposite the Ascendant or Midheaven, should be meaningful in determining those most likely to survive an attack of this nature. Jupiter at any angle preserves life, as we might expect. He is the great preserver. Jupiter was within 5º of an angle in five of the charts and each of the five children survived.

Indeed, all of the surviving children for whom we have full birth data had one or more planets within 5º of an angle. The evidence from the Dunblane children suggests that close angularity is extremely important in distinguishing between those who survive and those who do not. Which planet is angular is also important, as is the angle involved.

Having the Moon conjunct or opposite the Ascendant or Venus opposing it is not at all helpful - these two bring just too much attention to the native. Saturn at the IC (the only examples we have here of Saturn angular) is associated with death, while Pluto on the Ascendant avoids it. This effect of Pluto is not unexpected. On the natal ascendant he can create a colorless person who passes unnoticed in any crowd. On that March morning in the Dunblane Primary School gym not being visible was a distinct advantage.

Simply having a planet angular may aid survival. Five children and two teachers had nothing within 5º of an angle. Each of the children also had Lilly violence conditions present in their birth charts, for four of them it was condition # 3 or # 4, and each of the five died.

Besides having no planet within 5º of an angle, neither of the two teachers for whom we have full birth data, Mary Blake and Eileen Harrild, had any Lilly violence conditions present in their charts. They both survived.

Fixed Stars

In ten of the charts the Sun is with one of the violent fixed stars.

Eight of the ten are associated with the child being killed. The two who survived, one a child and one a teacher, had no other indicators of violence in their charts.

All of the children were born with Saturn opposite the fixed star Pollux. Many of them had this opposition within 5º and the others had it just beyond this orb. This is mentioned although, in keeping with normal practice, only the conjunction is used here for planets to the fixed stars.

There are fourteen charts with a violent fixed star conjunct or opposite the MC. These relate to ten deaths and three survivals (Brett McKinnon had two of these fixed stars aspecting his MC, Aldebaran and Antares). Each of the three survivors had no Lilly's violence conditions present. Eight of the ten deaths had one or more Lilly violence conditions in the chart. The two deaths without these violence conditions had Venus or the Moon opposing the Ascendant.

The remaining four deaths, those without a violent fixed star aspecting the MC, either had Lilly violence condition # 3 or 4 present or Venus or the Moon opposing the Ascendant.

Conclusions

Lilly's violence conditions # 3 or 4 were present in seven of the 32 charts for which we have full birth data. All seven children died.

Having one or more of the other Lilly violence conditions by itself was not fatal. However, the presence of any one of them when a violent fixed star is conjunct the Sun, or one of them is conjunct or opposite the MC coincided with a death.

There were nine charts with a violent fixed star conjunct or opposite the MC that do not have Jupiter within 5º of an angle. Each time one of Lilly's violence indicators is also present. All nine died.

Similarly, there are eight charts with a violent fixed star conjunct the Sun. In each instance one of Lilly's violence indicators is also present and Jupiter is not angular. These eight children all died.

Jupiter is within 5º of an angle in five of the charts. Each of the five survived the attack, other violent indications notwithstanding.

There are three charts with Venus opposing the Ascendant. All three children died.

There are three charts with the Moon either conjunct or opposite the Ascendant. All three children died.

These last two indications of a violent and unexpected death involving Venus and the Moon are surprising. Yet they make sense, in this particular situation. People born with either of these two bodies angular do invariably attract attention and being noticed by others may not be too beneficial if a mentally sick person is the one paying attention.

As the Table 7 clearly shows we can distinguish between those Dunblane children who were killed and those who survived.

Note that the worst afflicted chart, in terms of the number of checks against her name in Table 7, is Victoria Clydesdale's. She and her family had only very recently moved to Dunblane and that morning she had a rash all over her body but had insisted on attending school. She does seem fated to have been in the school gym that morning.

Consider too the other extreme - the two children with no check marks against their names in table 7: William Hurst and Dawn Paterson.

William survived the attack without sustaining any injury. He had the presence of mind to dive for cover into an alcove when the shooting began.

Dawn Paterson wasn't even there. Although she was in the class photograph, she and her family had moved away from Dunblane, left the scene of the forthcoming tragedy, three months before.

There was only one other child currently a member of the class who was completely uninjured, Rachel Hally. There is one check mark against her name in Table 7, but it shows she had the life-preserving Jupiter within 5º of an angle at her birth. Rachel didn't go to school that day.

End

The complete birth data of each of the thirty-two charts involved here, together with the pertinent positions necessary for evaluating each of the various conditions for determining whether the child or teacher involved was able to survive John Watt Hamilton's attack are included in the published version of this article (see Considerations volume XIII number 1, February-April 1998, pages 33-54). Because of the extensive editing required to convert the planetary glyphs (as originally published) into words, suitable for presentation on this web site, these pages are omitted here. Those wishing to view the complete article can do so by ordering this Considerations back issue (in addition to this important research article, volume XIII number 1 contains valuable contributions by Doug Smith, Prier Wintle, Hideaki Shuseh Kokubu, Brita Okin, Denis Saunders, T. Stan Riddle, Helen Best, Jaroslav Mixa, Fritz Guldner, Richard Houck & Hans Taeger).

You are free to print out this article for your own use. It is however fully covered by Copyright and may not be used in any publication or for any commercial purpose without the written agreement of Considerations.

by Ken Gillman
Considerations Magazine

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