Monday, October 16, 2017

Motive Of The Las Vegas Shooter


October 1, 2017 is when  a man named Stephan Paddock checked into the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, and opened fire on a crowd at an outdoor concert, killing at least 58 people, after which he killed himself. The investigation is under way, and the timeline has been questioned and re-established, but no one has been able to determine Paddock's motive. Since Paddock has killed himself, and left no clues about why he do such a thing, this will be a lingering question. Here is a Tarot reading about his motive.

We begin with the seven of swords, the card of partial success and theft, crossed by the Hierophant, the card of conformity and social norms. The seven of swords has a double meaning here: not only has the ability to achieve a normal lifestyle eluded Paddock, which is the underlying reason for his angst; he had actually planned to kill many more people on October 1 than he did! 

Appearing as a founding cause for this, we have the six of cups, reversed. This shows that our suspect was living in the past, so to speak, hanging on to either a lifestyle or a career that no longer worked. He was unwilling to change. It also suggests that he had hopes of a windfall or an inheritance that did not pan out as planned. His past also shows us the four of wands, reversed. This shows that despite the lack of concrete direction in his life, Paddock actually blended in for awhile, and did not gain too much attention for his eccentricities. Those who had contact with him discerned nothing amiss. The Queen of Swords appears reversed in the place of possibilities. This is a woman judgemental and rather dishonest. She appears as a peripheral part of this matter, but not as the cause. We will revisit her later. Next, in the place of things that WILL happen, we have the eight of pentacles, which is the card of the apprentice. This indicates that this shooting will actually generate much study and investigation, and a sincere effort will be made, not only by law enforcement, but by other agencies as well, to determine why this happened and to prevent mass shootings in the future. 

The Lovers, reversed, appears in the place of choices and fears. This is not only about Paddock's romantic relationships, but about choices made by him and by others, about him. Problems he had relating to others were usually ignored, and no one discussed his eccentric habits surrounding firearms. This also refers back to the Queen of Swords; she was most familiar with Paddock's behaviors, yet did not see a reason to discuss any of it with others. This reading portrays her as a bit of a villain, here. In the place of environment, we have the five of swords, reversed, which is straight-up revenge. Yes, our shooter imagined that he needed revenge against the general public because he was never able to "fit in" or be accepted. In the place of expectations, we have Justice, reversed. It is my sense that there were, in addition to consequences for the mass shooting, other matters pending that involved our justice system.....not necessarily criminal matters, but civil. Paddock was not expecting things to go his way. He also knew, that the time he shot himself, that there was no defense for his actions. The reading ends with the Tower, which foretells, among other catastrophic events, bankruptcy. Paddock's motive for the mass shooting was fear of bankruptcy and hatred for people. He blamed the rest of the population for his lack of success at a traditional career.

2 comments:

Ask the questions and never overlook the truth.