I write a lot about brainwashing on this blog. I wrote this particular piece, ten years ago in 2011. I write about protecting and maintaining your mental health, exercising your intellect, doing you own thinking, striving to understand things and the like.
These interests are shown in my chart by a Mars Mercury conjunction in the 9th house. But recently I came up with what is probably the root of my passion. I was surprised.
“I have several children who I’m turning into killers. Wait till they grow up.”
Serial killer, David Berkowitz aka the Son of Sam wrote that. Most people don’t realize there are people who think like this, plan like this, and who are just in general, this diabolical. If they did know it, they’d not be so lax about leaving their intellect and psyches unattended.
I’m spirited when it comes to this issue because I have vast exposure to a guy like, Berkowitz. I had to fight a war to keep my common sense and to regain what was lost during that time. If you can imagine that, maybe you can imagine how heart-wrenching it is for me to see people give their minds away so readily.
There are people out there like, Berkowitz. They are psychopaths with devious motives. I can tell you firsthand, you’ve got keep your wits if you don’t want to be their victim.
Do you guard your mind and beware the minds of others even the least little bit?
This is related- Forum: Are Psychopaths Born Or Bred?
I don’t want to tempt fate, but anyone like that would set symbols off in my head… & I am SO SO grateful for this sense of mine.
Trouble is that many of his ilk come accross as “normal” if not charming.
I remember being gob smacked, listening to my mother exclaim “Oh, but he looked like such a NICE man, how could he have done something like THAT?” when news broke about Jeffrey Dahmer.
I realised just how much people take others on face value. God Help Us.
& just where ARE the “several children” he was “turning into killers”?
Though the existence of crazies is something to take pause about, I think it’s important to remember that MOST people — a vast majority — are not this batshit crazy. The world, at least in the States (and other places on earth) are largely safe. We just hear about the exceptional, violent things that obviously DO happen. You can prevent yourself from falling prey to a crazy person with critical thinking and comparing the present to the past (does this guy remind me of the Son of Sam? Ohhhh…) and you can not enter active war zones to keep yourself safe from crazies in that dept. But you can’t live (I don’t think) as if every person is capable of becoming a loony. Because the chance is far greater that they’re as normal as you.
When I moved to NYC, I was this wide eyes country gal, and would say hi to anyone who made accidental eye contact. No one said hi back. After awhile I learned why: You never know who the crazies are. I would be sitting next to someone on the train, all was well, then he’d stand up mumbling and growling, started “singing” his own salsa ditty, and was “dancing” to it. Nuts lol Maybe not belligerent nuts, but unpredictable, for sure. The way to cope was to shut out the world. People pretend to sleep to avoid the poor people panhandling on the train, even when the panhandlers are verbally aggressive. We tune our sirens and screams. It’s a highly concentrated area, and to me, that makes it an exception. But what sucks is that EVEN THERE, it was only MAYBE one or two crazies in a train car where there were 50-100 people who were NOT crazy.
I can’t live that paranoid. I lived it for a few months, and felt so much of my humanity slip away, I forged forward and got the hell out of there. I think critical thinking is important because it’s the subtle often benign sounding arguments that lead you down a slowly degrading path. And people often mask those in threats of being unpatriotic or not loving God or not caring enough about fill in the blank. To me, that’s not Son of Sam crazy, it’s human nature. It’s bullshittery. It could be shot down if people would think for themselves and know history better. However, my faith is not high it will improve enough to eradicate that stuff…In the meantime, I seek out the nice folks and try to maintain relationships with them.
That photo is SO creepy!!!! Turns my stomach.
I don’t know why he reminds me of the Sonny’s BBQ guy. Maybe I’m hungry.
I’m sorry you had to learn about this first hand. Very scary, and I don’t doubt it’s the fuel behind your passion.
My hope is that my spidey senses would be triggered and protect me from becoming anybody’s victim.
Yes, and I was pretty stoked when an obvious sociopath set off my alarm bells within ten minutes of meeting him. It’s been a learning process — life experience has tuned me in to the more diabolical facets of human nature. Fool me once …
Guarding my mind has been my main business ever since becoming an adult. It has been f*cked with more than enough!
I am way more gullible than I would prefer to be, but I do try (try being the operative word here) to guard my thinking as much as I can.
I can see my Mercury-Saturn-Neptune thing in full bloom here.
Here’s a former boyfriend’s chart info. For me it is a case study for this sort of potentially evil and narcissistic pervert chart.
I once read that this sort of destructive personality usually included strong Neptunian or Piscean features, strong Pluto (obviously) and strong Uranus as well.
So here we go: Sun in 1st house in Pisces opposite Pluto (Rx) and Uranus (Rx).
Moon in Aries in 2nd. Venus in Cap in 12th conjunct Ascendant (very seductive and charming).
The 1st and 7th houses are intercepted. The 7th house holds North Node (opposite Venus), Mars (Rx), Uranus (Rx), and Pluto (Rx).
In karmic astrology this suggests past lives with very serious violence and possible rape issues.
But I’ve learned now to protect myself and what’s mine. After I lost most of it once with this guy. Never again. In a way I have to thank him. He forced me to build myself solidly where I was idealistic and naive.
The only solid aspect to my Mercury is a square to Neptune, and I also have an exact conjunction with generous Ceres – so I have to be doubly on my guard not to be fooled
I was easily practiced upon when I was younger. Luckily that Mercury is in Cap, so over time I learned to protect myself, and equally luckily my innate intelligence saved me from being too seriously fooled, ever
Psychopaths and I do not get along at all. Putting me in the same space with a psycho is like mixing two chemicals that together produce nerve gas. I can only say things get ugly and fast. Manipulating a Sag Mercury/Venus/PF is mainly insulting. My viewpoint is way higher than anything a psycho could imagine, so it’s kinda like a frog trying to manipulate the weather. In the end, the frog can either shut up or get struck by lightning.
My Mercury is also participating in a number of grand crosses, which in practice means a multitude of painful aspects the poor thing has had to get used to. Contact with similar aspects, which in a psycho are obviously out of control, increases the pain even further, resulting in an adverse reaction to all things psycho. If I ever got stuck on a desert island with a psycho, one of us would end up as sharkbait and I wouldn’t care who, as long as I could have some peace. Nobody has any peace near a psycho. Nobody feels good, nobody feels secure, nobody can relax, nobody can have any self esteem, nobody can even imagine being one’s best self around such an emotional parasite. Sure, they can be charming, but only because they have no emotions of their own. This means they have no qualms about lying through their teeth. They can say exactly what the victim wants to hear, no matter how ridiculously untrue it may be. They can cheat lie detectors, because there is no measurable emotional response to anything. Other people’s responses are interesting mainly because by understanding how cause relates to effect, they can extract nice things to satisfy their out of control needs. They need sex, they talk real sweet to a pretty girl, walk her home and rape her. If they find the girl’s emotional response interesting enough, they can torture her to get more interesting data for future use. If a psycho needs money, he simply intimidates some helpless soul to give some or orders his girlfriend to walk the streets to pay for his penis implant.
Of course, few psychos really turn into full fledged serial killers. Most are quite happy to make life miserable for as many people as possible, without the obvious risks that come with killing. The bully at work is probably a psycho who specializes in exploiting hierarchical structures to serve his perverted needs. The “friend” who drops by, lets slip a couple of seemingly innocent and accidental revelations about a mutual friend to start a bitter quarrel between the two of you, then plays both sides and accidentally sleeps with both your husbands, is most likely a refined psychopath. When the dust has settled, she probably pretends to give you both therapy and poses as the Messiah, who made it all good again. Some psychos specialize in creating more psychos. They may appear to be totally devoted and family oriented parents, who sacrifice their every waking hour to the nurture of their children. In reality, the kids live in constant terror, they have “accidents”. They have strange illnesses that keep them home for weeks so that daddy can have his way when he so wants. Some develop mental problems which can’t be hidden, but a smart psycho mum will use this to her own advantage and gain a lot of sympathy as the mother of a special needs child, even when the ingrate brat starts telling the truth about her, which naturally nobody believes, as the kid is “special”.
So, they come in all shapes, sizes, colors and sexes. Obviously, they exist and we need to recognize that fact unless we want to end up as snack. We should also have a strategy against them. They already have a strategy against us and no inhibitions to stop them from implementing it. My favorite strategy against these pesky little critters is Amplified Mirroring. They push your buttons, you push their’s ten times as hard. They project fear at you, you project physical injury. They give you pain, you give them a one way ticket to hell. Serious opposition makes most psychos back off and the ones who do not had it coming long before they ever met you. If one needs to be annihilated, so be it. Scores of victims, past present and future, will thank you for it.
“Scores of victims, past present and future, will thank you for it.”
That’s not been my experience. It’s exactly the opposite, you get no thanks at all.
those people tend to see me as a class A target. so i’ve had to learn.
Really well said Elsa 🙂
Oh I am always suspicious of people’s true motives when they seem overly invested in influencing how I think, I had to learn that very young.
I’m a very independent thinker. I also am very suspicious of peoples motives so I don’t believe I’d be an easy target for people. 🙂
I’ve been seriously brainwashed twice! Once was by someone devious. I think they were testing various things and methods on me to see what would work best to control people. A willing subject. A weak mind is easy to manipulate. The other time was driven by peoples’ subconscious — they don’t seem to be aware how controlling they are, but it was still jarring. I didn’t realize how much I normalized until I got a healthier mind and learned to discern. Since I had a lot of internal problems, I used to think everything was my fault. After the internal problems were gone or straightened out, I was able to truly find out whether something was or wasn’t my fault, and it was pretty shocking how much I got blamed for being myself. Gone are the days of mushy thinking. You really do have to protect your mind! Or you’ll be controlled to meet people’s agendas.
Balsamic Mercury/Pluto conjunction in 6th trining a Mars in Gemini in my natal
I’m constantly turning my mind like a prism in light through various thoughts, points of view: eschewing ‘belief’ & looking for the bottom line of truth
I’ve no patience for those who are all too willing to not examine their minds & beliefs & are even proud of their own ignorance.
However it’s human nature to desire security & stability: which means reinforcing whatever worldview you have – & then that’s very hard in itself to discern where, how & why you have that worldview to begin with! What Jung called ‘the process of individuation’. And not everyone is called to that path. The Socratic process, though I think that drive may be innate as well but is more easily rewarded by being suppressed
Recently a narcissist & I believe perhaps sociopath entered my life. He was in it briefly but the desire for him to actually be how he presented himself was so strong I willingly blinded myself to it – still annoyed with myself for that
Hell yes I do! Having grown up with an abusive father and a psychopath Scorpio grandmother. I recently realized just how brainwashed the rest of the family was. I was speaking to my Mother about my imbecile brother, 46 years old, who hasn’t worked a job in about 25 years and let his driver’s license expire, how his social anxiety problems can’t be made better by the fact he’s 6 foot 6. My Mother tells me how ‘LUCY’ (her mother the psychopath) used to make FUN OF HIM for how tall he is. I thought, it’s a good thing LUCY didn’t tell them all to jump off a bridge, they might have actually done it.
I don’t like loud pushy people who think they know everything so I don’t think I would give them much of my time.Usually people with ulterior motives are very apparent to me and makes me uneasy.maybe it is my Capricorn in the 7th or my pisces shyness but I don’t let many people too close unless Ive known them a long time.
Evil exists but too faith has momentum lend one smile one moment one hidden wish and a parade of happy will replace your fear.say no thank you when it is wrong.
I dated one once. It took me a few short months to figure out what was going on. He could be charming as all get out. Then be Dr. Hyde. Then I broke it off. Had to figure a way to get rid of him without getting harmed. Fortunately it worked. But it spooked me for a while thereafter wondering if he’d turn up somewhere. I remember recalling that about a week after I met him that I would look out my front window several different times with the feeling that someone was watching me. And dismissed it. A mistake. Got a birthday card a year & a half later after no contact with him signed “Love, me”. Creeped the hell outta me.
I read a book titled The Gift of Fear after that and started listening to my gut feelings.
I do work with a woman psychopath in my office. I underestimated her. I have to say she’s really good at it. Has the men charmed & the women in fear…doing her bidding. I keep conversations minimal but since I’m not one of her minions that doesn’t sit well with her. I hope when I leave my job that my boss picks her as his assistant! Which he probably will. Karma for both of them!
Guarding my mind is my primary action. I am acutely aware of the mischief people can consciously create in order to influence others. Why, top management train people to hone their “influencing skills”. I saw this as visible astral projection. When I described what I saw, it was confirmed to me these techniques exist and are actually practised. I have 8th house Mercury exactly opposite Pluto.
This is an excellent post. Not many people write about this kind of material with an outlook of awareness.
I’d like to think I’m not naïve and gullible but I find out a lot of stuff in hindsight. To be fair, those people are super sneaky and rope us into playing their game before we even know what’s going on.
LOL. You’re in fine form these days. GTO. 🙂
Well thank you, Elsa. It’s funny how one comment from someone respected and admired can change a fellow’s entire day. Thanks and thanks very much.
Yes, this. Evil is very, very, good at manipulation and tricks. The lies always have a foundation of truth… it’s easy to find yourself nodding yes before you think. Knowing and being willing to examine ourselves is the only way out of it.
I don’t even trust my own thoughts.
Haha. That comment was made at the depth of Pluto squaring my Sun. I was doing some housecleaning. I did realize that a lot of my ideas were not mine. I dug and dug and burned through the debris inside that was society’s bullshit until I found my own essence. Phew it was a process.
Now, it’s not so much that I guard my mind, but that I stay connected to myself and my authenticity, so that I can discern.
*hugs*
Yup. It took vigilance and practice but now it is in my nature to not go there. And so it seems I don’t have to deal with them anymore. I do observe it going on with others though. Good reminders always.
I guard my mind fiercely – mercury in loose conjunct with pluto. I can generally pick out these people pretty fast and get away even faster! I think I’ve only really met one person that had everyone fooled in this way, and my spidey-senses were still telling me there was something wrong, yet I gave him the benefit of doubt. Still paying for that one.
I feel like there are 2 enemies. The most hidden enemy is actually within ourselves…. because it’s how the external enemy accesses our most painful areas—AND our rational to justify heinous acts. The “external” enemy is so powerful because of the way they know how to get into these darkest parts of us… Wishful thinking, anger, trauma…
Yes, this exactly. Also our love – they use what we love, who we love, how we love against us. They take things that are true and good, and twist them.
Yes exactly. I think we must admit to ourselves that even with the ones, who say they also support what we love… They can do wrong / have done wrong — We straight up have to say —to ourselves FIRST — this isn’t ok. This is hurting people. This is hurting us. Physically. This is where it gets complicated. And this is where ppl (who have befriended us for their benefit…) can slice us with our own sword in the chaos…. and head out unscathed.
This why putting people / a group on a pedestal is dangerous.. We forget to call them out & disagree with them… when they are heading into hurting us, or other folks. We think we’re helping (Aquarius) the cause & that person, but we’re actually hurting ourselves more (Pluto) by going along with one crowd or another without questioning why. Sigh
Yes! As they say, the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. And we are socialized to do nothing. We tend to believe 1. If I am a good person then nothing bad will happen to me, so 2. we do not believe that anyone ever IS *that* evil, and 3. when evil happens right in front of us, really we should be polite and mind our own business. We are generally not taught discernment, courage in standing up for what is right, or to bullies, nor to question everything we are told. This top-down Listen and Obey Authority is taught to us from the moment we are born. As you say, we need to realize it ourselves first, and have the courage to act upon it.
Very interesting. The action is actually where I have to pause before I let the anger take over. And self-examine to know. So I’m not caught in another trap. This may be my 12th house Aries shows though!
Haha and I am Aries Rising, so I think I know what you mean (Mars in Scorpio too). I am definitely someone who needs to remember to pause and check herself. People especially hate it when you tell the truth, I’ve noticed…
Thank you, Sara! I totally agree!
Mercury in the 10th conjunct Mars/Chiron in House 9 in tight opposition to Pluto within 2 degrees of Zeus…. I’ve been a magnet of sorts since adolescence. The truly diabolical manage to kill you with your own most cherished ideals and hopes to satisfy their need to crush what lies beneath their feet. I had no concept of narcissism back then except for Bullfinches….but after the repeat performances of toxic bosses and lovers(?) mid-life has left me a hair-trigger b-s detector. As a result— I see sumpin-I say sumpin- (usually in the vernacular) and the hammer lands right on me! Elsa is right- no thanks- but the peace of mind is what you are fighting for.
This is so timely for me, a few months ago I had my whole world blown open when I discovered that there is a name for what my husband had done to me, and how my parents have the same personality disorder. I probably never would have stumbled on the information, explanations, stories from other people who have lived through the same thing…. If it hadn’t been for my mom starting in on my son. She tripped an alarm and once you wake up or the veil lifts, and you see it all for what it is its terrifying.
My rising and Jupiter are both Aqua, and my moon and 4th house are taurus, so astrologically my ‘self’ and ‘home’ are being affected by the aqua taurus square.
I had never given much thought to who I allowed to control my mind because I didn’t feel as though I was ‘controlled’. Its been an incredibly de stabilising few months as I attempt to go no contact with basically my entire family, and erect some much needed boundaries.
A great book on this subject is “People of the Lie.” Check it out. Helped me immensely, having been labeled ‘Bodhisattva Shit Stirrer” for rocking the authoritarian boat too often!
the other day we were talking about the swindler gardener who stole alot of money, and my mother in law found him in the journalistic news program for swindlers or those who who have done bad to the public; and he was one of the featured gardeners. It seems that he went on to swindler another poor guy for double the amount he owed us. His way of coercing people out of their money was “force” in a logical sense. That he needed the money right away into his account for materials and supply and to hire the extra hands to work on the project right away. it sounded legit. And plus people usually trust people, especially his business which seems totally legit, with even past work done and usually successful.
It was super smart because his ‘victims’ were usually bigger fish, and he got reccommended by the elderly who he worked on their garden for a mere few thousand; then told them to recommend their business to others. i never really thought of that until how we found out through the journalist how they swindle. Then we talked about how psychopathic he was because he felt no remorse for taking the money and going from home to home or business to business finding more victims. its manipulation and quite smart, its also scary because he used “trust” for the foundation.
What about cold blooded killers vs. those that plot and scheme? There was a guy (mentally ill says the D.A. says🤔)who drove up to a Police car and point blank shot the officer dead. Of course driving around with a gun, maybe he had planned this ahead of time just looking for the opportunity to present itself.
As far as other psychos go, I can usually feel somethings off in my gut (get queasy). I have Moon/Pluto Trine Ceres in the 8th, Sun in the 12th (or first depending on the chart type). I think that gives me pretty good spidey scenses.
A dear childhood friend fell victim to a pair of serial killers in the L.A. area in the 70’s. It destroyed her family. She was a beautiful person and had her whole life ahead of her. What they did was so diabolical, my mom refused to tell me what happened to her. Decades later I researched the case and found out why.