This post was originally published on Astrology News Service
Sue Kientz
A Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, was the deadly scene of a car plowing into Christmas shoppers on Thursday, December 20, 2024, just after 7 p.m.,(1) injuring 200 people and killing five, including a nine-year-old. Arrested was Saudi-Arabian physician Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen for driving his BMW through an emergency exit and into the crowd.
While the incident seemed a repeat of the 2016 Christmas Market car attack in Berlin, Germany, officials revealed that the suspect was a known Islamophobe, not an Islamic extremist. Al-Abdulmohsen openly supported Germany’s far-right AfD political party and reportedly complained that the government was “Islamicizing” Germany. Also described as “atheist,” his motivations for committing a mass casualty event weren’t clear. What is available to reference is his birth date(2), which – perhaps astonishingly so – may offer the answers people always want to know in such shocking situations: why did this person snap and commit this terrible act, and why now?
At the time the suspect drove his car into the crowded market, Mars (4 Leo) was on the Ascendant (5 Leo), the latter a point exactly square (90 degrees) to his birth Mars (5 Scorpio), a square being highly motivating, even vexing to experience, and when involving Mars, can release anger that leads to violence. This alone doesn’t explain the enormity of his action. In quest of that we examine Al-Abdulmohsen’s Mercury (25 Libra), representing his thinking and state of mind, and find it conjoined Uranus (29 Libra), mark of high intelligence (required for a doctor) even as that can develop into a “know it all” attitude; semisquare (45 degrees) Neptune (8 Sagittarius), the minor square perhaps representing his negative opinion of religion (Neptune: open to spiritual inquiry or experience); and sesquiquadrate (135 degrees) Jupiter (7 Pisces), this minor square bringing overreaction, going overboard (negative Jupiter: unpleasant excess). His Mercury is also square Saturn (18 Cancer) and Dwarf Planet(3) Orcus (25 Cancer), evidence of his conservatism (Saturn) and favoring authoritarian views and desire for perfection (both Orcus), confirmed by his expressed political views.
But why does Al-Abdulmohsen commit such a reckless, murderous act now? Transiting Mars makes uncomfortable squares roughly once a year and must be a trigger for some other upset. Right now, transiting Neptune (27 Pisces) is exactly sesquiquadrate his Sun/Venus (both 12 Scorpio), suggesting aggravation against some religious event or experience (Neptune), or confusion (Neptune) about what threats are real. Add to that Dwarf Planet Eris (24 Aries), opposite his Mercury for the last year and, moving slowly in Aries, symbolizes increasing angst or overconcern with people he doesn’t trust (Eris as alienation, fear of others unlike oneself).(4) These show how he feels his life and relationships (Sun and Venus) are impacted, and how his mind (Mercury) interprets his situation. But what enables him now is transiting Dwarf Planet Ixion (5 Capricorn), named for a mythological murderer and representing those who chafe at rules even as they expect others to obey the law. Ixion is exactly sextile (60 degrees and “supporting”) his Mars, impacting his actions (Mars), leading him to possibly surrender to an opportune moment, seeing an entry available into the market and deciding to “go for it.” He takes such a course as his own Ixion (8 Scorpio) conjoins his Sun/Venus, a figure that could well contribute to the attitude that while others must obey authorities, he is exempt, as he is “very intelligent” and so “knows“ when to dispense with rules.
Title Image credit: Background: Augiasstallputzer~commonswiki, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Image text by the author.
Notes and References
- 20 December 2024, 19:02 CET, Magdeburg, Germany, “2024 Magdeburg car attack,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Magdeburg_car_attack
- Al-Abdulmohsen, Taleb, 5 November 1974, Al-Hofuf, Saudia Arabia, 7 a.m. BAT used, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taleb_Al-Abdulmohsen
- Kientz, Sue, “Dwarf Planet Basics,” Astrology News Service, 6 November 2024, https://astrologynewsservice.com/articles/dwarf-planet-basics/
- Kientz, Sue, “Eris, the Discomforting Other,” Astrological Journal, September/October 2014, pp. 35-40, https://moreplutos.com/articles/Eris-SueKientz_AstrologicalJournal-Sept-Oct2014.pdf
Sue Kientz specializes in astrology’s mid-sized planetary bodies, the largest asteroids and massive trans-Neptunian dwarf planets Eris, Makemake, Haumea, and others discovered this century. Her experience researching the latter led to her book More Plutos, which received a 2016 eLit Award. More Plutos also addresses how resonance, fractals, and intuition can explain how astrology works. Sue argues that the dwarf planets are astrology’s great breakthrough, equivalent to what microorganisms did for medicine. She currently serves as Assistant Editor for the Astrology News Service.
Website: MorePlutos.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MorePlutos
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