The Empty Horoscope of a Mass Murderer

Anders Behring Breivik's Complete Birth Chart

Anders Behring Breivik shooting teenagers at Utöya, Norway.

(September 4, 2011) On July 22, 2011, Anders Behring Breivik set off a car bomb in central Oslo, Norway, and a couple of hours later he killed 69 persons on the nearby island of Utöya. His horoscope shows no sign of it.

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His terrible deed is impossible to comprehend. For almost an hour and a half, he walked around the idyllic little island of Utöya, where there was a social democrat youth gathering, shooting everyone in sight. Most of his victims were teenagers.

He has shown no remorse at all, nor any other sign that his monstrous brutality affected him. That's extreme even for a psychopath.

His horoscope shows no clear sign of this monstrosity, nor does the transit horoscope for July 22. His charts are unusually bland, as if relating to someone lacking a personality.

Anders Behring Breivik's birth chart, without the Ascendant, MC, and the Houses, since his exact birth time is not known.

Birth Chart With Few Clues

As for Anders Behring Breivik's birth chart, I was unable to find the time of day, so I had to make a horoscope based only on the day of his birth, the 13th of February 1979 in London, where his father worked at the time. To minimize the chart's error, I calculated it for 12:00 noon. That way, the horoscope can be no more than 12 hours wrong.

Also, I excluded the Ascendant and the MC, since they move through the whole Zodiac in just one day. Therefore, the astrological houses are also excluded, since they are based on the position of the Ascendant.

Still, most of the planetary positions are pretty much the same, no matter what time of day he was born. The moon moves 13 degrees each day, so its position in the horoscope should not be taken for granted, but the other heavenly bodies don't move much in just 12 hours.

His horoscope has two clusters, indicating important aspects of his personality and life. One consists of the sun, Mercury, and Mars, in the sign of Aquarius. The other cluster is the moon (though its position is uncertain), Saturn, and the Dragon's Head (the moon's north node), in Virgo.

The former cluster is the most important one, not only because of the presence of the sun, which is the major heavenly body of the horoscope. Also Mars needs to be considered carefully, since it's by an act of extreme violence Breivik has sealed his fate.

The trio is at the end of Aquarius, which deals with contemplation and intellectual process. That's certainly true in Breivik's case. It's by elaborate and long-time reasoning (although twisted) he reached the decision to carry out his terrorist acts.

Mercury's presence in the cluster stresses that this intellectual process was both the instigator and the goal. Most of the nine years he prepared for his terror attack, he spent writing a 1500 page document explaining his world-view and strategic scheme. In this document he states repeatedly that his main reason for the attack is to bring attention to his document.

That's a process nourished by the three planets at the end of Aquarius, a position of some confusion and uncertainty. In a way, his aim was to convince himself of his thoughts and conclusions.

Anders Behring Breivik captured by the police.

The other cluster, that of the moon, Saturn, and the Dragon's Head, is in the middle of Virgo, the sign of work, scrutiny, and criticism. Saturn in this position complicates matters, although it's in retrograde (seemingly moving backwards in the sky). Its effect is always severe and grim to some extent, often the heaviest burden in anyone's horoscope. This leads to concrete action in Virgo. Saturn becomes additionally bitter and straining in this sign.

The moon's north and south node form a staight line in the horoscope, describing a main direction of one's life – from one to the other. In this case, where the north node is in conjunction with the moon and Saturn, whereas the south node has no neighboring planets, the direction of Breivik's life must be towards the north node.

The south node in Pisces speaks about confusion and a restless search for meaning. The north node in Virgo indicates ending this confusion by springing into concrete action. Saturn makes this action serious and grim, the moon makes it passionate.

Of course, these horoscope ingredients don't point at such beastly action as that of Breivik. They appear in many horoscopes. But in his case, they were driving forces in the extreme actions of his. I see no way of realizing beforehand the monstrosity of their manifestation, but these are the likely astrological circumstances expressed.

The two clusters have no aspects (certain significant angles between planets) to one another, but some lesser aspects to other planets in Breivik's horoscope. The remaining five planets are spread out in a weakening way, creating no other point of force in the horoscope.

All of his planets are placed rather evenly in the signs Leo to Aquarius, which is slightly more than half of the Zodiac. Except for the clusters in Virgo and Aquarius, there is one planet in each of the other five signs in this part of the Zodiac. This wide spread is one of fragmentation and confusion.

Some of the planets are connected by aspects, but not in a way that stands out. The clusters have squares, a constructive and destructive aspect, to other planets: Both the sun and Mars are in square to Uranus in Scorpio, indicating a defiant attitude to reason, even a fear of disappointment if following it. The moon nodes are in square to Neptune in Sagittarius, which hints a reluctance to accept what seems to lie in the future.

Still, nothing to clearly indicate the dreadful outcome. The same goes for the transit horoscopes, where Breivik's chart is compared to the planetary positions of the day of the terrorist act.

As If Nothing Happened

After nine years of preparation, Anders Behring Breivik went into action on July 22, 2011. He published his 1500 page document on the Internet, set off a big car bomb in Oslo, and ended by shooting 69 people to death on the island of Utöya, 40 kilometers from Oslo. If anything, this day should be heavily marked by transits to his horoscope.

Not so. Not at all.

Anders Behring Breivik's transit horoscope for July 22, 2011, at 3:25 PM.

At 3:25 PM the Oslo bomb exploded. The transit horoscope shows that there are no aspects to Breivik's birth chart. Not a single one. This is very rare for any given moment and any horoscope, although the orb allowed for a transit is just one degree. There's always a few.

So, this moment is like it never happened to Breivik at all. It has no significance to him.

At 5:07 PM, less than two hours later, Breivik arrived to Utöya and started shooting people. This methodical mass murder of teenagers is so grotesque that it would be even more significant in Breivik's life. Also, he spent almost an hour and a half doing it, joyously according to reports, as if he had longed for it during the nine years of preparation.

But in the transit horoscope, there's just one little aspect appearing – a sextile between the sun in Breivik's chart and the moon in the sky above Utöya. A moon aspect brings little more than a mood swing, since they appear so often and pass so quickly. It indicates nothing more than that he enjoyed his activity at the moment, as if playing a game.

Really, it's as if he wasn't there.

April 2002 – the Real Beginning

Horoscopes are about beginnings. They mark the birth of people and events. So, if the above charts are correct, they indicate that the terrible events on July 22 were not at all starts of anything in the life of Anders Behring Breivik. Conclusions, no doubt, but not starts.

This he points out very clearly in his 1500 page document. Again and again he mentions what he regards as the start of it all, and that's in April 2002. He gives no exact date, but this month he claims to have been in London, participating in the formation of a kind of Knights Templar Order, with the purpose of commencing war against what he imagines to be a Muslim invasion of Europe.

From that moment, he spent his life working towards the terror attack, seemingly having even the details of his attack clear that very early on. So, that's the moment when it all began in his mind. April 2002.

To minimize errors, I checked with a transit for the 15th of April that year. Indeed, there is more than in the transits of July 22, 2011.

Anders Behring Breivik transit horsocope for April 15, 2002, at noon.

Anders Behring Breivik's transit horoscope for April 15, 2002, at noon.

Mercury in the cluster of Aquarius, mentioned above, was in conjunction with transit Uranus in mid-April of 2002. Transit Saturn was in square with Saturn of his Virgo cluster. Transit Jupiter was in opposition to his native Venus and in sextile with his native moon (but that position is uncertain).

That's not exactly great astrological fireworks, but it's significantly more than for July 22, 2011.

The Uranus conjunction indicates that at the time, Breivik reached some insight or conclusion on matters constantly on his mind. An intellectual process of great significance to him commenced. Surely the writing of that 1500 page document.

The Saturn square to Breivik's Saturn reveals a moment of grim sincerity. Transit Saturn is in Gemini, so it deals with communication, mainly the exchange of words. Agitation. But it's a transit of frustration. He might have concluded that words, no matter how sharply spoken, are not enough.

The opposition between Jupiter and his Venus is of less significance in this setting, but it implies that some chain of events of an emotional kind will interrupt with his ability to accomplish a well-to-do situation for himself. He commits to something that will obstruct him from enjoying life. The sextile to the moon confirms that it's a commitment made emotionally rather than with reason.

It has to be said that none of this suggests clearly the dreadful outcome, but it's much more of a beginning than the actual terrorist acts were. For Anders Behring Breivik, that is.

A Triggering Newspaper Article

Unfortunately, Anders Behring Breivik gives no more exact date of the London event than April, 2002. In addition, the whole thing with a secret meeting forming an Order of medieval kind, seems very much like fiction, an invention of his mind. Did something else happen that month, triggering Breivik?

On April 24, 2002, the Norwegian daily newspaper Verdens Gang (VG) published an interview with a Muslim fundamentalist, who talked about winning Norway over to Islam. Breivik is sure to have read the article and just as sure to have been very upset by it. In his mind, it may have confirmed his belief in a Muslim invasion, although the Muslim leader speaks of non-violent action only.

It's also interesting that this Muslim leader lived in London at the time, the city where Breivik claims to have participated in the formation of the Templar Order that same month. Did his imagination create a counter-action, imitating but reversing how he perceived the interview?

Anders Behring Breivik's transit horoscope for April 24, 2002, at 6:42 AM.

Here we have a precise date, to the minute. The article was published on the newspaper's website at 6:42 AM on April 24, 2002. This transit horoscope has all the previously mentioned aspects of April 15, and two more:

An opposition between transit Mercury in Taurus and Breivik's Uranus in Scorpio shows concretely expressed thoughts that contradict Breivik's perception of the world and the threats to it. One might say that the Muslim leader frustrated Breivik by not confirming his prejudice, something Breivik would have interpreted as deceit by the Muslim, increasing his fear.

A square between transit Venus in Taurus and Breivik's Mercury is slightly more interesting, because it involves one of the planets in the Aquarius cluster. This suggests that some material gains came to Breivik in a way that he would have preferred to see coming differently. He was disappointed by things not being as bad as he liked to think.

Well, interesting but again not nearly enough to explain the terrorist act and its nine years of preparation.

I went through the other days of April 2002, and some of them have more aspects, such as April 8 and 17, but none that add significantly to what is stated by the aspects already mentioned.

Other Significant Dates

Taking a broader look at Anders Behring Breivik's horoscope, I find other dates and periods that seem much more significant to him than all of the above.

His Neptune position in Sagittarius indicates far-fetched fantasies about the future (something he shares with his generation). In 1986, when he was seven years old, transit Uranus passed it, probably introducing a world view to which he still clings on, especially regarding his imagination about the future.

In 1992, when Breivik was 13, transit Pluto passed over his Uranus, which must have made a significant impression on him (as well as on most people of his age). His fear of what would emerge from deep contemplation and extended thought processes seemed to be confirmed by big events around him. The nature of those events in Breivik's life would be great clues to what kind of fear he started to nourish.

In the same period, transit Saturn passed over the cluster in Aquarius, adding tension and drama to this time of his life, especially regarding what took place in his mind.

In 2004, two years after the above mentioned April 2002 events, transit Pluto reached Breivik's Neptune, whereby he would have jump-started the realization of his future fantasy. Therefore, I would assume that he might have started writing his manifesto in 2002, when transit Uranus reached his Mercury in the Aquarius cluster, but he started to work on his terrorist act in 2004, imagining that he was thereby creating the future of his choice.

In the following few years, transit Neptune passed over his Aquarius cluster, making him go deep into his own fantasy. That lasted well into 2010. In this period he would have increasingly lost touch with reality. This confusion was increased in 2009, when Jupiter passed over the cluster.

In addition, transit Saturn passed over his Virgo cluster in 2009, including his first Saturn return (transit Saturn passing over Saturn in the birth chart). That's a trying time in anybody's life, reminding us about obligations in life and the fact that the clock ticks on. To Breivik it was a reminder to move towards concrete action.

In 2012, transit Pluto will reach his Venus in Capricorn, which changes his material situation considerably and dramatically. One would assume that's the start of a long prison sentence, affecting the rest of his life. The date of this transit is a bit uncertain, because we lack the time of Breivik's birth, but it can't be earlier than late 2011 or later than 2012.

The most important transit that awaits Breivik would be when Pluto passes over the cluster in Aquarius, which begins in 2034 and continues for about six years. It's not unlikely that by then, he loses touch with reality completely.

Something Unreal

There is something unreal about him, altogether, from an astrological perspective. It's a pity that we don't yet know his birth time. A chart based on his exact time of birth might add the clues needed to figure Breivik out – or not.

Astrology and the horoscope have some shortcomings. One of them is the difficulty to pinpoint amplitude – the level of force by which planets and aspects are expressed. This is certainly the case with Breivik's horoscope, too. There are indications as to how his mind works and how he is inclined to act – but nothing that reveals the terrible outcome.

Update July 28, 2015

A Facebook comment on this text (see below) made me aware that a biography over Breivik's mother published in October 2013 states that he was born at 12:50 PM in Oslo, not London. My estimate of midday is close enough to make the above reading stand, especially since I avoided considering faster moving points of the horoscope. Still, a proper reading of his horoscope should be based on his exact birth date, now that it is available.

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