Jeffrey Dahmer/TracyRenee

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In ‘The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer’, Brian Masters paints a poignant picture of a sad, lonely man. It is all too easy for us to view Jeffrey Dahmer, Milwaukee’s notorious homosexual necrophilic serial killer as a monster. To do so, however, would be to deny the existence of the dark recesses of our psyches, which are a part of all of us. While most of us are able to dismiss dark thoughts, unfortunately, Dahmer’s were so overpowering that they took over his whole life and subsequently brought about his downfall.

Jeffrey Dahmer became known to the public in 1991 when police discovered the macabre existence that lie within the confines of his small apartment in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Because the crimes that Dahmer committed were so appalling and against the moral codes that we live, he poses a fascinating study to help us search for clues as to where his behaviour went incredibly awry. During the first three decades of Dahmer’s life, except for two sexually related incidents with the police he was able to escape almost literally unnoticed. Throughout his rampage of death there were numerous causes for concern and opportunities for the police to discover what lie in his distorted sense of reality, but for some reason luck seemed to be on his side, as he was able to escape detection.

At 18, the first time Dahmer killed, he targeted a young hitchhiker on his was way to visit a girlfriend. When Dahmer drove the corpse in the back seat of his father’s car police stopped him. When queried, Dahmer explained that he was driving around in the middle of the night because he was distraught over the break-up of his parents’ marriage. The bag, he explained, was garbage that he planned to dispose of. This seemed to be a good enough excuse, so Dahmer was free to go on his way unhindered.

Although Dahmer held his grandmother in high esteem, it did not stop him from killing people in her house while she slept and dismembering their bodies when she was at church. On the few occasions that she complained of foul smells, he was able to placate her concerns.

On numerous occasions tenants in Dahmer’s apartment complex complained of the stench originating from his flat, but all affected parties seemed to be satisfied that the foul odours were the result of a defective fish tank, and they did not pursue the matter further.

On the final occasion that Dahmer eluded authorities, the police actually delivered his victim to him when he told them that the man was his boyfriend and that they had a lover’s tiff! Although there were witnesses who pleaded with the police not to let the man go with Dahmer, their outcries were dismissed and the young man was handed over to his executioner.

Why was Dahmer practically given free range to destroy so many lives? One suggestion is that we just don’t want to believe that others will do bad things, and therefore have a tendency to look at life through blinkers when faced with suspicions or unsettling facts.

    Jeffrey Dahmer - natal
    21 May 1960
    3.34 P.M. (6)
    87.57 WEST
    43.03 NORTH
    07H  40M  17S 
    Placidus
                26 LEO             23 CAN             18 GEM                  
                    *                *                *                       
              PL03Vir                *                                        
              PF08Vir  *             *             *                          
    25 VIR    NN21Vir                *                ME06Gem     16 TAU      
         *                *  UR17Leo *          *     SU00Gem    *            
             *                       *              VE22Tau  *                
                 *           *       *       *           *                    
                     *               *               *                        
                         *      * ** * ** *      *                            
                             *               *                                
                            *                 *             MO19Ari           
    19 LIB ******************                 ******************* 19 ARI      
                            *                 *                               
                             *               *                                
                         *      * ** * ** *      *                            
                     *               *               *                        
       NE07Sco   *           *JU02Cpr*       *           *  MA08Ari           
             *                SA17Cpr*              SN21Pis  *                
         *                *          *          *                *            
    16 SCO                           *                            25 PIS      
                       *             *             *                          
                                     *                                        
                    *                *                *                       
                18 SAG             23 CPR             26 AQU

Dahmer’s birth chart yields some interesting results. Of major significance, it contains not one, but two Yods. The Yod, or Finger of God, is composed of a planet that forms a quincunx to two adjacent planets that form a sextile to each other. One Yod is rare enough, but two undoubtedly put stress into any natal chart. The fact that two planets are common to both configurations further intensifies the chart because when one Yod is activated the other one will consequently be affected. When a Yod is activated by a transit or progression, events are likely to take place that will leave the native forever changed.

Dahmer’s Sun, Mercury and Venus posited in his 8th house show quite clearly that he is fascinated with death. The stellium forms a quincunx to Neptune and this indicates that he can lose himself in his fantasies, which are quite often macabre due to the Scorpion theme of Neptune. The stellium also forms a quincunx to Jupiter, thus showing that at times these daydreams and intrusive thoughts simply overwhelmed him.

Jupiter and Saturn in Capricorn show that Dahmer needed an older mentor to guide him and thus take his attention away from his active imagination. One of Dahmer’s major problems was the fact that his father was somewhat of a workaholic and therefore not available to him. Because Saturn rules his 4th house, it also corresponds with his maternal influences and home life. Dahmer’s mother suffered from postnatal depression and apparently could not bond properly with him during his early stages of development.

Mental illness, of which depression falls, is often labelled the ‘selfish disease because sufferers are often so wrapped up in themselves that they forget that there are other people around them who are influenced by their activities. Because depressed and other mentally ill people are so totally self absorbed, they tend to neglect the feelings of those around them. Perhaps is Dahmer’s mother had not been focused so intensely on her own illness, he would have had a better chance to emotionally develop during his formative years. Note: Although the author of book stated that Dahmer’s mother was depressed, possibly for legal reasons, after she died some biographers have indicated that she was not depressed, but an alcoholic. Alcoholism seems more likely to be the driving force behind the neglect of her son because depressed people usually at least try to carry on with their day to day activities, while people who suffer from severe alcoholism often cannot.

The fact that Dahmer felt on some level that he could not approach both of his parents in his more formative years undoubtedly had a huge impact on his maturation processes. It is interesting to note that his parents’ inattention did not go unnoticed because as a child, one of his teachers wrote on his report card that she felt he was neglected.

Because Jupiter quincunxes the Sun/Mercury/Venus stellium and sextiles Neptune, this shows that Dahmer had an active imagination. The Yod configuration indicates that Dahmer knew these fantasies were unhealthy and therefore kept them to himself.

For a brief period of time Dahmer tried to keep the intrusive thoughts under control by attending church with his paternal grandmother, who is represented in the 1st house. Although Dahmer was not able to express his love for her, he no doubt was very fond of her because he lived with her for several years, helping her with odd jobs around the house that she was unable to perform herself. When Dahmer was asked if he loved his grandmother, his reply was, ‘Yup, she’s lived in that house a long time’, thus highlighting the difficulty he had with intimate relationships.

After a couple of years of intense prayer and Bible study, Dahmer thought that he had his intrusive thoughts under control. The turning point in his life, however, occurred when a homosexual man slipped him a propositioning note one day while he was in the library. This incident opened the floodgates of thought that had been so precariously shut. Not long after that event Dahmer gave in to his urges, thus reaffirming the sense of unworthiness that he felt deep within himself.

Neptune is a pivotal planet in Dahmer’s natal horoscope because not only does it form the apex of one Yod and the leg of the second, one also forms a sextile to Pluto, which forms a trine to Jupiter. Neptune gives Dahmer those dreamy qualities that make it hard for him to discern between fantasy and reality. This planet’s Scorpio sign placement indicates that much of this fantasies dealt with sex and death. He was loath to discuss his desires because even he felt that they were not socially acceptable.

Neptune forms a quincunx to Mars, which relates to his health. When Dahmer was four years old he was subjected to a double hernia operation. When the surgery was completed, Dahmer felt such excruciating pain that when he awoke from the operation he asked his mother if he still had his private parts. The pain lasted for about a week, and Dahmer retained distaste for the doctor who performed the procedure. Although no one will ever know precisely what events in Dahmer’s life influenced his criminal activities, it is believed by many that this operation deeply affected his psyche because he had not yet reached the age of understanding.

Mars placed in Dahmer’s 6th house goes into great detail about his work. After dropping out of university, he enlisted in the Army and trained as a medic. His military career, however, was short-lived because of his drinking. Pisces on the cusp of his 6th house shows quite clearly that his drinking habits were detrimental to his work. Neptune, the modern ruler of Pisces, is posited in the 1st house, and indicates that alcoholism was one of his major health problems, and his dependency led to his dismissal from the Army and other jobs that he held. Jupiter, the ancient ruler of Pisces, is placed in his 3rd house, showing that Dahmer was to travel to Germany with the Army.

Neptune forms a sextile to Pluto, and this relates to his fantasies. Pluto governs perversity, and it would be difficult to imagine a more obscene act than performing sexual acts on a dismembered corpse, which is exactly what Dahmer did! Because he had an overwhelming problem with intimacy, he was only interested in bodies that were still, unconscious or dead. The fact that he had no reservations whatsoever about killing young men to acquire bodies shows that his necrophilia was one of the most extreme cases that mankind has experienced.

Jeffrey Dahmer’s Ascendant is placed in the sign of Libra, which gives him a pleasant and amiable disposition and assisted him in his quest for victims. He was always polite and courteous to anyone he came into contact with, which is reflective to the personable nature of this sign. Libra rules relationships, and this desire for a union, albeit with a still or dead body, is what drove him to commit such acts. Dahmer’s desire was for a person to stay with him, and when he suspected that the object of his desires would leave, only then did he drug and eventually kill. . Because Libra is ruled by Venus, which is in its home sign of Taurus in the 8th house, Dahmer’s behaviour was directly influenced by his sexual fascination.

The nodal axis is a great indicator of the areas that Dahmer should have tried to aspire to, as well as what he should have avoided. Because the North Node is in Virgo in the 11th house, Dahmer would have faired much better if he had concentrated on making friends though his work. His South Node in Pisces in the 5th house indicates that while it was almost second nature for Dahmer to lose himself in his fantasies, as well as drug and alcohol abuse, these were precisely the activities that he should have avoided if he wanted to keep his sanity.

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