Election 2016: Afterthoughts

The election is over and most of us astrologers forecast an incorrect outcome.  At least we weren’t alone!  Most in the news thought Hillary had an easier path to the presidency.

While the polls showed a very close race, commentators suggested that Trump’s ability to forge a lead in electoral votes was difficult.  We are all still under a long-standing influence from Saturn square Neptune, with Neptune stationary at the time of the election.  This not only undermines confidence in authority figures, like politicians and police, for example, but it also inhibits our ability to project (Neptune) accurately into the future (Saturn).  And the public appears to have become tired (Neptune) of doing things the same old way (Saturn).

I’m leaving all of my Election posts up so readers can follow my thought processes.  Some things I may have misjudged include the following:

The birth charts themselves:  Trump’s chart promises more possibilities and a better reputation than Hillary’s, who with many squares had to fight harder for her successes in life.  And of course we’re not certain of Hillary’s birth time, which could change many things.  (We also lacked birth times for Mike Pence and Melania.)

Trump’s progressed Moon Out-of-Bounds:  This is a powerful progression, but I limited its interpretation in Trump’s chart in response to Hillary’s inability to gain the presidential nomination in 2008, when she had her own Moon beginning to progress OOB.

The transit of Uranus in Trump’s 9th house exactly trining his Moon less than two weeks after the election should have been emphasized over Saturn – it characterized what many called a stunning victory.  I also may have over-emphasized the negativity of Saturn’s oppositions in December and January.  There is always the question of whether taking on a major position is the result of a flowing or challenging aspect from Saturn, making the outcome difficult to call.  But the next few months will no doubt be tough on Trump.

I’m curious to see what becomes of Tim Kaine.  With his Saturn return in 2017 and Pluto transiting his 10th house Mars in Capricorn, it seemed obvious to me that he would take a big step forward in his career.  The Pluto aspect is exact for the final time in December.  Something about this election has fundamentally changed things for him and they will continue to develop next year.

I may not have followed my own advice to avoid bias and the influence of the polls as much as I should have.  Over the weeks I studied the charts, the evidence seemed to be piling up for Hillary.  But Bill Clinton’s transit Saturn chasing his progressed Moon didn’t promise a big victory.  I thought this reflected a back-seat role in the White House.  But once again we return to the question of whether Saturn brings responsibilities or a lack of opportunity.

I misinterpreted the past Saturn cycle for both of the Clinton’s – when Saturn was in the same place Bill was Governor of Arkansas and declined to run again.  While Hillary had independent appointments at that time, the decision limited both of their movement forward toward their ultimate goals – which parallels 2016.

The delineation of progressions was challenging.  For example, Trump’s progressed Ascendant conjoined the US progressed Midheaven, but it was nearly 2 degrees past.  The US progressed MC also conjoined Trump’s progressed Jupiter, but it, too, was moving away.  And I felt Hillary’s progressed MC trining US progressed Jupiter more significant.  While the outcome may support my use of a Gemini rising chart for the US, we can never rely on public birth times to be exact.

Hillary Clinton had a new Solar Return two weeks before the election, and I overlooked it – considering her Solar for the campaign year instead.  The correct Solar Return is not great. hillary-solar-return-10-26-16

In writing posts every week or so, I also addressed the charts of the candidates in more of a linear fashion than I usually do, which perhaps also detracted from my judgment.

In the final analysis, we need to remember that astrology is not an exact science.  I feel that after forecasting six presidential elections correctly (two for Clinton, two for Bush, two for Obama), I may have become overconfident.  Still, 6 out of 7 correct is pretty good – over 85%  –  and many astrologers have the same record of accuracy.