Robert Lewis Stevenson wrote The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde in 1886. The story’s central theme is of two very different men who inhabit the same body. His characterization of the respectable Dr. Jekyll, who turns into the ugly and deformed Mr. Hyde, so gripped the collective imagination that this story of duality is well-known by virtually everyone.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has stood the test of time as a study of the origin and nature of human evil.
While it’s assumed this is a fictional tale… the story below is not.
The Strange Case of Phineas P. Gage
Phineas Gage worked for the Rutland and Burlington Railroad. He was part of a crew laying new tracks for the railroad’s expansion into Vermont. Gage was considered by his bosses “the most efficient and capable of men” and was said to be a “virtuoso” at setting explosive charges, having the” physical prowess and keen concentration” essential for this task.
A Freak Accident
It was a freak accident. Gage was preparing a detonation when he was distracted and prematurely tapped the powder with an iron rod, sparking a fire that blew the charge upward into his face, propelling the iron rod into and through his brain.
The rod, made especially to Gage’s specifications, was unusual; it was 3’7″ in length and was tapered from 1 ¼ in. to ¼ in. in diameter. The force of the explosion thrust the point of the rod through Gage’s left cheek, pierced the base of his skull, traveled through the front of his brain, and exited at high speed through the top of his head, landing more than a hundred feet away covered in blood and brains. Amazingly, Gage, stunned but awake, was carried sitting upright in a wagon to a hotel, where he waited over an hour for the doctor to arrive.
Note: The prefrontal cortex “intelligently regulates our thoughts, actions, and emotions through extensive connections with other brain regions.”
The Strange Tale Begins
Surviving the explosion with so large of a wound to the head is surprising; remaining coherent immediately following is astonishing, and even more unbelievable, Phineas Gage was pronounced cured in less than two months. And this is where the strange tale actually begins.
No Longer Phineas Gage
Though his physical recovery was complete, he wasn’t paralyzed and could touch, hear, see, and speak; it became clear as soon as the acute phase of the brain injury subsided that Phineas Gage was no longer Phineas Gage.
Before the accident, Phineas had “temperate habits” and a “well-balanced mind.” He was considered “a shrewd, smart businessman, very energetic and persistent in executing his plans of action.” There is little doubt that he was well thought of by everyone and successful at his job.
However, after his physical recovery, his physician wrote, “The equilibrium or balance, so to speak, between his intellectual faculties and animal propensities seems to have been destroyed. He is fitful, irreverent, indulging at times in the grossest profanity (which was not previously his custom), manifesting but little deference for his fellows.” His friends said he was “no longer Gage.”
The Dark Side of Phineas Gage
Gage manifested little concern for others and was impatient with restraint or advice that conflicted with his desires. He was “perniciously obstinate, yet capricious and vacillating.” He devised many plans for the future but had no follow-through. “A child in his intellectual capacity and manifestations, he had the animal passions of a strong man.” Gage was so different that friends and associates could not recognize him.
Once a dependable and respected employee, Phineas Gage could no longer hold a job. Some say he became a derelict, a circus sideshow exhibit, and wanderer who died in obscurity 13 years after his accident.
Over a century and a half later, what happened to Phineas on that fated September day in Vermont led to a new understanding of how the brain and body form the mind and personality.
Note: Gage’s skull, head cast, and the tamping iron are now on display at the Warren Anatomical Museum Exhibition Gallery at the Countway Library of Medicine.”
Phineas Gage Birth Chart
Phineas Gage was Born on July 9, 1823 (no birth time and date uncertain, but let’s go with that date anyway.) Gage was 25 years old on September 13, 1848, when the accident occurred, and he made medical history and became immortalized.
Phineas Gage had Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury conjunct in Gemini
Astrologer Eric Francis once wrote about Gemini: “…Whatever the inner split may be, it’s a crucial part of the story of humanity, and we see it illustrated in Gemini. I have found that on a number of levels, the question to ask when strong Gemini is present is: Do the twins get along? What is their relationship? Are they aware of one another? Does each of those hemispheres of consciousness know that the other one exists?…”
Transits for September 13, 1848
The transits for that fateful September day when Phineas Gage became immortalized. Interestingly, Gage’s Gemini stellium was being bombarded, transiting Mars was sparking off his natal Pluto/Uranus Square, and Pluto was squaring the Lunar nodes on that fateful day.
- Transiting Saturn in Pisces Square N Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury in Gemini
- Transiting Uranus in Aries Sextile N Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury in Gemini
- Transiting Pluto in Aries Sextile N Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury in Gemini
- Transiting Pluto in Aries Square N Capricorn N Node
- Transiting Pluto in Aries Square N Cancer S Node
- Transiting Mars in Libra Opposite N Pluto in Aries
- Transiting Mars in Libra Square N Uranus in Capricorn
Astro Phrenological Brain Map
Could the human capacity for good and evil be located in the white matter of the brain’s prefrontal cortex, that area that adherents of phrenology refer to as The “Organ of Veneration” and the adjacent “Organ of Benevolence”?
Gage’s story reminds us that good and evil reside side-by-side in each of us. And it only takes an extreme physical or emotional trauma or a drug to disrupt the brain and completely change our character ~ for good or bad.
Your thoughts?