When I looked at Donald Trump’s chances of winning the presidency in 2020, I noticed an unusual aspect in synastry: his progressed Mars was approaching a conjunction with the U.S. progressed Mars. At over 6 degrees apart, I didn’t consider it. But time has passed and I was reminded of this combination when Trump announced on August 8th that the FBI had raided his Mar-a-Lago home. It looked to me like a fight.
Astrologers are familiar with Trump’s rising Mars in Leo, which perfectly describes his bold, assertive, bombastic personality. It rules his 9th house, making him expansive and litigious, as well as his 4th house, often focusing him on family matters and real estate. Trump’s Mars has helped him enthuse followers and push through his agenda.
In the U.S. Gemini rising chart I use (favored by Evangeline Adams), Mars is also rising. In Gemini, a mutable sign, it has less force and consistency. But it does describe a multiplicity of voices and America’s sense of independence and self-reliance. Trump’s natal Mars is roughly sextile the U.S. Mars. But relationships grow and change and we can get a better idea of their status at any moment by looking at progressed to progressed aspects.
The U.S. progressed Mars, like Trump’s, is now in the middle degrees of Libra, the sign of its detriment (opposite its ruling sign of Aries), making it more malefic. We might potentially say that Trump and the country are joining forces, but the U.S. also has natal Saturn at 14 Libra 47, the sign of its exaltation, giving government authority figures the edge in any encounters. Saturn rules the 8th, 9th and 10th houses in the U.S. chart, and closely squares the U.S. Sun in Cancer. We can see the resources (8th) of the government (10th) and its legal system (9th) brought to bear in an authoritative move against the former president. Both the U.S. and Trump’s progressed Mars conjoin one another, but also conjoin U.S. natal Saturn and square its Sun. The country may be at a crossroads, and all are experiencing a challenging period of time.
The progressed to progressed combinations are unusual and continue for several years. Trump has been actively flirting with running again in 2024, but at the time of the election, his progressed Mars will nearly exactly conjoin U.S. Saturn (less than half a degree – it will be roughly exact in the summer of 2025). Meanwhile, the U.S. progressed Mars moving slowly retrograde and Trump’s progressed Mars moving more quickly direct in Libra are in a double-approaching conjunction with one another, less than 2½ degrees apart at the time of the 2024 election. They will continue their close conjunction until around 2027, when the aspect will perfect.
One commentator has suggested that the more aggressive the government’s actions against Trump, the likelier he will be to run for president again in 2024. Contention motivates him. This fits the astrological picture, which suggests a long legal battle over what justice (Libra) actually means. The malefics involved show quite a contentious relationship in the coming years, but the strength of the U.S. Saturn implies that the country will win in the end. (Unless, of course, Trump once again becomes its authority figure.)
Still, the malefic Mars-Saturn combination does not bode well for Donald Trump’s candidacy in 2024. But the election is over two years away, much will change in the intervening years, and these progressed aspects, though notable, are just one small piece of a much larger picture.
Many commentators are predicting a shift to the right in the November elections due to political cycles, Biden’s low approval ratings, and re-drawn Congressional districts. But André Barbault shared that the Jupiter-Neptune conjunction “portends a swing to the left,” quoted by Lynn Koiner in her Predictions 2022. Lynn also noted the conjunction’s influence near Barack Obama’s first presidential inauguration in 2009. Will astrologers or the pundits be right? Planetary cycles can be very telling and the astrology should prove correct.
André Barbault focused on planetary cycles throughout his long career, and made remarkable forecasts that included foreseeing the 2020 pandemic in 2011 (Anthony Louis’ blog post has more).
After analyzing over 200 years of history (from 1792 to 1997) in his book Planetary Cycles, Barbault concluded that Jupiter-Neptune “aims for unity and peaceful exchange; in brief, it is humanitarian. There is a general atmosphere of diplomatic and political détente and collective movements that have liberal democratic tendencies. In effect, its ideology is socialist… a continuum with phenomena, which are undeniably of same order, being repeated every thirteen years: the beginning, end or renewal of a historical process with the same tendency which is of a collective liberal order, democratic, socialist, or even more or less revolutionary. There is a swing to the left, with international aims of an associative, peaceful or humanitarian nature.” (pps. 52-56)
We’ve already seen this concept of collective, peaceful unity in the international support for the defense of Ukraine in early 2022.
Jupiter conjoins Neptune exactly on April 12, 2022 staying within orb from March through mid-May. As Jupiter moves quickly, the return of the conjunction occurs with Jupiter stationing direct in November to early December, as Neptune also stations.
Much news time was spent in April considering the French Presidential race between Emmanuel Macron and his far-right challenger Marine Le Pen. But if we believe André Barbault, the outcome was clearly foreshadowed astrologically. (See Michael O’Reilly’s analysis of their birth charts and the race; I personally feel that Le Pen would have a tough time winning any election with her Saturn in Aries in the 7th house square Mars in her 10th.)
What does Barbault’s work suggest for the November midterm elections? Former President Trump is endorsing a number of far-right candidates. But the Neptune station squares his Sun exactly on November 1, 2022 and January 5, ‘23 while also squaring his Nodes and Moon, very close to both the elections and the beginning of the new congressional term. These aspects prevailed when Trump lost the White House in 2020-’21, and continue to suggest deflated hopes. I’ll wager that few of his candidates will win, and that under the conjunction’s influence this spring, liberal-leaning folks may also do better in primaries.
Six months before the midterm elections, many commentators are projecting a Republican take-over of the House and maybe even the Senate. But the Jupiter-Neptune conjunction’s history points toward a chance that Democrats will keep their majorities. If not, then I expect more moderate Republicans, or those who share some of what Barbault described as “liberal democratic tendencies” to be elected instead.
Read Lynn Koiner’s Predictions for 2022 (scroll down) for an excellent, thorough look at this year and beyond, with nods to many astrologers of the past.
Find more of André Barbault’s incredible research in Mundane Planetary Cycles (English translation by Kate Johnston).
Senator Chuck Grassley accepted Donald Trump’s endorsement for his his 8th term in the Senate, where he’s the longest serving Republican at 88 years old. A successful politician, his horoscope has assets and liabilities, as most do. In the coming year, though, stressful aspects far outweigh the supportive ones.
As reality-driven Pluto trined his Sun in Virgo at his October 9, 2021 appearance with Trump, the Senator stated, “I was born at night, but not last night…” expressing his understanding of the former president’s popularity in Iowa. As we have no time of birth for Grassley, let’s take him at his word and estimate around 9:40 p.m., the middle of night-time hours. This approximation gives him Gemini rising with Sagittarius on the 7th house cusp, and 7th ruler Jupiter in the 5th conjoining both Mercury and the Sun in Virgo. The fortunate combination is in keeping with his continued popularity, his 67-year marriage, and five children.
Grassley had supported Trump’s policies and lauded his appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices. But he criticized Trump’s actions following the 2020 election, and called the January 6 violence at the Capitol “an attack on American Democracy itself.” Things change.
While September 2021 polls show Grassley leading against his Democratic opponent, aspects throughout 2022 present challenges. He will experience his third Saturn return in December, as Saturn activates his natal Saturn-Mars square. While it could consolidate his position, it’s also sure to produce some life changes, along with professional frustrations and limitations. Transiting Uranus’ station in January 2022 also begins to turn the natal square to a T-square, introducing unforeseen circumstances over which the Senator will have little control, especially as it exactly opposes natal Mars in May and December 2022.
Another notable pattern in Grassley’s chart is his natal Uranus-Pluto square, characteristic of the early Depression era. Transiting Pluto activated this pattern in 2021, which may indicate shifting sands or unstable footing. Pluto exactly squares Grassley’s Uranus once again in August and November 2022 – significant timing for his re-election.
The Sun conjunct Mercury and Jupiter (with Mercury exalted, closely conjunct and parallel Jupiter) seems to be at the heart of his past success. Transiting Neptune, though, will weaken this pattern and likely undermine his efforts going forward. The Senator survived the coronavirus in November of 2020 as Neptune opposed his Sun-Neptune midpoint. But Neptune will exactly oppose his Sun throughout 2022 and into early 2023, beginning to station again at the time of the election, an aspect that may well reduce his effectiveness.
In addition, Grassley’s progressed Sun will be nearly 24 Sagittarius in November 2022, creating a T-square with his natal Sun and transiting Neptune and adding to Neptune’s disintegrating effects. (Donald Trump had a similar pattern at the time of the 2020 election, with a grand cross of natal Sun, Moon and Uranus with his progressed Moon and transiting Neptune.) However, when transiting Uranus conjoined the Senator’s Mars and squared his Saturn, he was elected to Congress. When transiting Neptune squared his Sun, he was elected to the Senate.
Throughout much of the Senator’s birth night, Saturn in Aquarius was a singleton and the most elevated planet, an indication of his political longevity. Vice President Kamala Harris has a similar placement. Both consistently advanced step-by-step in their careers.
Still, it does not look good for Chuck Grassley in the year ahead. But without a timed chart, we can only speak in relative generalities. His popularity seems to ensure his 2022 re-election, but the long-term, heavy planet transits point toward many developments by that time. He’ll be 89, and may fall prey to health issues, erosion of support, a rapidly changing landscape, or all three. Perhaps he only wants to ensure that Iowans retain a Republican Senate seat. But things will certainly play out differently than he imagines. We’ll have to wait and see.
Post-election update 11/13/22 — Grassley won re-election once again with 56% of the vote, but only after polls in October showed his Democrat rival closing in on him within 3%. The Senate will continue to be controlled by Democrats.
When an electional chart works, events should flow smoothly and allow you to accomplish your goal. Might things turn out differently if we started earlier or later? It’s hard to say, since there’s usually no way to compare. But Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s 19th century race around the world gives us two departure times for the same goal.
Nellie Bly was an early undercover reporter who famously had herself committed to a mental institution in 1887 and shared her experiences in the sensational New York World. She subsequently exposed sweatshops, jails and lobbying practices. Later, 25-year-old Bly convinced the editors to support her attempt to beat Jules Verne’s fictional record from Around the World in 80 Days. Her ship departed for Europe from Hoboken, New Jersey on November 14, 1889 at exactly 9:40:30 a.m.
Capitalizing on the publicity, Cosmopolitan magazine sent its own writer, Elizabeth Bisland, on the same journey in the opposite direction. Bisland was a freelancer from the south who only had six hours to prepare. Her train left Grand Central Station at 6:00 p.m. the same day for the west coast. How do the event charts compare?
Nellie Bly left in the morning. Jupiter rises, and all the rest but Neptune and Pluto are above the horizon. The Sagittarius Ascendant signifies a long trip, though Jupiter in Capricorn is not at its best (the reporter did pack light, bringing only one carry-on bag). But Venus in Libra in the 10th house of success is a final dispositor of the chart (all planets by traditional rulership lead to it), and its conjunction with Uranus shows the attention-grabbing nature of the event.
While the horoscope isn’t high in essential dignity, rulerships strengthen some key planets. Jupiter in its detriment in Capricorn squares Mars in the 9th house but also exalts it. The combination perfectly describes the pioneering journey and highlights initiative and speed. Mercury in Scorpio in the 10th sextiles Jupiter, and it’s also exalted by Saturn in the 8th house, which trines Jupiter, symbolism for both movement and follow-through (as well as the support of a major publication). Saturn also exalts Mars.
Bisland’s trip of course has the same dignities. But she left after sundown, when most planets were below the horizon, and the Ascendant ruler Mercury fell in the weaker 6th house. (Its sextile to Jupiter conjunct the 8th house may confirm the fact that Cosmopolitan’s editors bribed some carriers to facilitate the trip.) The Midheaven ruler, Saturn, showing the final outcome, is below the earth in the 4th. And while electrifying Uranus now forms a nice grand trine with the Ascendant and MC, dignified Venus is in a relatively weaker position near the 6th house cusp.
As we’d imagine, Nellie Bly completed the trip in about 72 days and 6 hours, receiving great acclaim. Elizabeth Bisland returned to New York 4½ days later. But if the departure times were switched, would it have worked out differently? Event and election charts are not stand-alones, and the natal charts always tell part of the story.
The journey was Bly’s idea proposed a year earlier, and with Jupiter in Scorpio, her Sun conjunct Pluto and Moon all in Taurus, she was determined and had overcome an impoverished background. Transiting Jupiter approached a trine to her Taurus planets at her departure, and transiting Uranus trined its natal place.
28-year-old Aquarius Bisland was also independent and self-supporting. Transiting Jupiter trined her natal Saturn, and she neared her Saturn return, both heavier influences. The trip also reflected her natal Saturn square Uranus, bringing a sudden development to her life. Like Bly, she was probably well paid for her efforts.
I’m not sure an astrologer would have elected either of these charts, though both travelers returned safely. If we wait for the ideal time to act, we could be waiting a long, long time.
Nellie Bly was born on May 5, 1864 in Cochrans Mills, PA. Elizabeth Bisland was born on February 11, 1861 near Fairfax, Louisiana. No times of birth are available.
The uncertainties of life often lead to a greater interest in predicting the future. Jamie L. Pietruska’s book Looking Forward (2017) documents and analyzes futurism in the late 19th to early 20th centuries and looks at how forecasting crept into daily life. Pietruska considers the development of weather, market and economic forecasts (all of which had skeptics and detractors) and there’s also a well-researched section on fortune telling.
“Fortune tellers” include astrologers, card readers, palmists, mediums and psychics, who’ve been criticized and prosecuted in the U.S. since before the Civil War. Always popular (and perhaps because of it), they were denounced by scientists, the religious and mainstream society, and sometimes linked with crimes like counterfeiting, prostitution and even abortion (the presumption was that practitioners were usually scamsters and con artists). In the late 1800s, district attorneys and police began campaigns to prosecute fortune tellers in their cities; their stories were covered in dramatic fashion in daily newspapers (where the practitioners often advertised).
As early as 1895, well before astrologer Evangeline Adams’ first arrest in New York City in 1914, a fortune teller used the legal argument that she only read palms and did not “pretend to tell fortunes” (the legal jargon of the time). And in 1897, a Brooklyn jury agreed with the defense that palmistry was a recognized science, and acquitted the reader in two minutes. By the early part of the 20th century, these cases were often decided on character and intent, as the judge did with Miss Adams in 1914.
Pietruska seems as much an anthropologist as a historian; she documents the acceptance of antiquated laws and how society changed. This is a carefully researched work, and my book, Foreseeing the Future: Evangeline Adams and Astrology in America was quoted several times. It’s rewarding to see the same type of scholarly citations used for the other subjects. Astrology has a compelling history, and it’s refreshing to see it simply addressed as history, without the common “we know better” critiques.
There’s also a fascinating section on Adena Minott, a Jamaican-American businesswoman and activist who opened a “character reading” school in New York City that included phrenology, physiognomy, psychology and palmistry. The author shows that Minott’s story “reveals how antidivination law was used to enforce segregation in early twentieth-century cities as well as how the professional authority of a black educational institution challenged racial discrimination.” (Minott prevailed.)
The epilogue includes a look at the 2016 Trump election, when many mainstream and metaphysical forecasters miscalculated. People continue to crave predictability, despite the fact that all forecasts retain some degree of uncertainty. Like many astrologers, I favor knowing as much as we can.
Why did I ever get involved with the presidents? It must be astrological. With a strong Saturn trine the Ascendant, my connection with them began before I even thought about looking at their elections astrologically.
When I was a kid, my parents bought me a poster with headshots of all the chief executives. I’m not sure why they considered it an appropriate gift for a grade-schooler, but they were both civic-minded and we all had Capricorn in our charts. The poster stood out in black and gold on my bedroom wall, and I was fascinated by the weird hairdos and fashions. I knew very little about the people, but named my hamster after one of them. (Fillmore’s cage sat beneath the poster, though he never got as far on his wheel of fortune as his namesake.)
When my first book about Sun-signs and career came out, one of my radio interviews was in Tennessee. It was election season and I thought they’d like to hear about Vice Presidential candidate Al Gore’s chances for success. Using pretty basic techniques, I already expected Bill Clinton was likely to win, and Gore’s chart settled it.
I’d always been attracted to forecasting, and calling the outcomes of political elections was the kind of definitive, testable astrology I liked. Clients were interested in it, too. I focused on the natal horoscopes for my conclusions regarding major changes, continuing on a particular path, and possible success.
Early 20th century astrologer Evangeline Adams was no stranger to prediction, and famously called the outcomes of several presidential elections correctly. She appeared to base her judgments, at least partially, on transiting Saturn, which is so important to career and life direction. When I began studying Adams’ work, I became more interested in her Gemini rising U.S. chart, and took more time with my next presidential forecasts, studying not only the candidates’ charts but the country’s too.
With several correct forecasts in a row, I now had a record to uphold! I eventually became convinced that the more things I looked at, the more accurate I’d be. I checked transits, solar returns, progressions, solar arcs, progressed declination, planetary cycles, the candidates’ progressed to the U.S. chart, as well as their progressed to U.S. progressed aspects, and included the candidates’ spouses to see if they supported my conclusions.
Some were easier than others. I was skeptical that an African American president could be elected in 2008, but the prevailing transit of Saturn opposite Uranus, announcing innovation, clinched my forecast of Obama’s win. In 2012, his progressed declination was so deeply connected with longer-term U.S. progressions that I felt his work with the country was not yet complete. At the same time, Mitt Romney had transiting Neptune squaring his Gemini Ascendant, while running mate Paul Ryan had the mirror aspect to his Sagittarius Ascendant: I imagined their joint hopes would evaporate.
The presidential contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore, despite being one of the closest in U.S. history, seemed to me relatively easy to determine astrologically, and many other astrologers agreed.
My brother, a die-hard skeptic, also kept me focused on the presidential predictions. A math person with a fixed-sign Aquarius Mercury, he argued my successes were simply coincidence. I’d actually been correct 6 out of 6 times. The probability of choosing heads correctly in 6 coin tosses is 1 in 64, or a 1.56 % (.0156) chance.
But by the time Hillary Clinton ran against Donald Trump, I’d become overconfident, and transiting Jupiter trine my Moon that year only added to my presumption. Living in New York City for most of my life, I assumed most would see Donald Trump’s run as the publicity stunt I thought it was. I also couldn’t imagine someone with such a checkered career in the White House. We all know the result; bias is not a good thing for astrological judgment, and the lack of an accurate birth time for Hillary didn’t help.
I was determined to do better with the 2020 election and again spent a great deal of time with the candidates, their spouses and the U.S. charts. I also returned to basics, and only used the techniques I was most familiar with – transits, progressions and progressed declination. My study of U.S. Inauguration charts for my book Tecumseh’s Curse also helped me call the 2020 outcome correctly, when I realized that Saturn and Uranus in hard aspect historically suggested a change in presidential party.
I now had an accuracy record of 7 in 8 correct, or 87.5%, versus odds of 3.13% by chance alone. When I asked my brother what he thought, he laughed nervously and began talking about Trump’s legal challenges. We know what happened with that! More importantly, I had refined my forecasting techniques and vindicated both myself and astrology.
On the verge of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction, I’m delighted to release my new E-book, Tecumseh’s Curse: Indigenous Wisdom, Astrology and the Deaths of U.S. Presidents. I cover the Shawnee brothers linked to the “curse” and the zero-year presidents dying in office, the connections between myth and history, Indigenous culture and American expansionism, and astrology and prophecy. The book looks at patterns in American presidential history and includes analyses of inauguration charts with a preview of the 2021 term and the Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius era to come.
Astrology is not the best at determining outcomes. We can always describe the astrological weather and types of events to expect, but predicting a result is a different matter. It’s far more effective to describe what planets are operating and how they might alter the status quo. Pluto relentlessly erodes what it touches, Neptune dissolves things, Uranus can shatter, Saturn gradually reframes, and Jupiter refreshes situations.
For political elections, we are astrologically considering the likelihood of an outcome. When we add personal bias and agendas to the mix, we can understand how challenging it can be to predict a result. Analyzing the kind and amount of change an individual may expect is one way to approach it. Another is by studying long-term planetary cycles. An important combination this year is the progressed U.S. Sun leaving its conjunction with transiting Neptune.
On election day in 2016, transiting Neptune retrograde at 9 Pisces 16 was very close to the U.S. progressed Sun at 11 Pisces 28. These placements were also approaching a trine to the U.S. natal Sun at about 13 Cancer, allowing Neptune’s cloak to stealthily wrap itself around the country. Neptune advances only a little more than 2 degrees each year. On election day 2020, with the U.S. progressed Sun at about 15-1/2 Pisces and Neptune stationing at 18+ Pisces, the aspect is beginning to depart from the conjunction.
This suggests that some of the Neptunian confusion and complications the country has faced in recent years will gradually begin to lift. Neptune rules otherworldly transcendence, dreams, images, illusions, healthcare, drugs, contagion, disintegration, empathy, charity, idealism, isolation, the oppressed, secrets and deception, among other things.
By 2000, the influence of pharmaceutical companies had already led to a national health crisis, and deaths from opioid overdoses peaked in 2017. The coronavirus pandemic is a Neptunian development all its own, but it also exacerbated the opioid crisis and brought to light the flaws in the American healthcare system.
The proliferation of the Internet, smartphones and other mobile devices, communications satellites, distance learning and web conferencing has kept people glued to screen images.
Donald Trump, the real estate developer turned TV personality who was elected president in 2016, is truly a Neptunian character. His administration popularized the terms “fake news” and “alternate facts” to describe media coverage, promoted a nostalgic return to fossil fuels, and issued executive orders limiting the rights of refugees (many of whom were incarcerated). Through mixed messages and skepticism, he encouraged a mistrust of journalists and healthcare professionals, fueled conspiracy theories and further polarized the nation.
Neptune and Pisces have surely been influencing many aspects of our lives. The country entered an economic slump caused by a trade war with China that became a recession with the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. But feminist, LGBTQ and Black rights movements coalesced during this time.
Another interesting feature of the 2020 election is that transiting Neptune in Pisces is activating all of the major candidates’ horoscopes. It stations in square to Donald Trump’s natal 10th house Uranus in November; opposes his progressed Moon in Virgo the day before election day; and goes on to exactly square his Sun-Moon opposition in March of 2021. The station squares Mike Pence’s Sun-Mercury midpoint in Gemini, exactly squares it in January and squares his prominent Mercury for the first time in April 2021.
The Neptune station in November opposes Joe Biden’s Midheaven, exactly opposing it for the final time in February of 2021. The station transits Kamala Harris’ 10th house as it opposes her natal Venus in Virgo and opposes progressed Mars in Virgo in October and January. Which candidate has the vision for the future? Ultimately it’s a judgment call.
I’ve looked at the 2021 Inauguration horoscope, the Nodal Return cycle, and the candidates’ forecasts. The tides comes in and tides go out, and so it is with astrological developments. As it seems to me that Donald Trump resonates more strongly with recent Neptunian developments, I believe the tide has turned against him as a politician.
I always consider the Vice Presidential candidates when evaluating an election, checking on how they’re interacting with notable transits like Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn and their progressions. Both Pence and Harris show important changes in their lives in the coming months.
We unfortunately don’t have a time of birth for Mike Pence. Declination moves slowly, and his progressed Moon is on the less fortunate downslope, though offering the possibility to coast along in a position. Are there any indications for a major change? I think so.
Pence has a notable Venus conjunct Mars in early Leo squared by Neptune in Scorpio in his birth chart. These squares will become a T-square with the transiting Jupiter-Saturn conjunction between the crucial months of November and January, scattering his attention and hampering his efforts. In addition, Jupiter and Saturn contraparallel his Mars in December, causing many frustrations. The aspects are more notable since natal Mars is also inconjunct Saturn. While Pence has nice sextiles from transiting Jupiter and Pluto to natal Jupiter, it may not be enough for re-election.
Mike Pence’s controlled and low-key image is probably due to his natal Saturn in Capricorn contraparallel a Venus-Pluto parallel (all within about a half a degree). Between late October and January, transiting Jupiter and Pluto will both activate the natal contraparallel. This is another combination involving the year’s momentous transits that also suggests significant life developments.
Progressed Venus in Virgo has moved another degree closer to squaring Pence’s natal Sun. While the Neptune station in November is about two degrees past an exact square to both, it activates them at a crucial time, creating another T-square, and T-squares are purveyors of change. President Trump’s progressed Moon at about 18 Virgo is also moving away from Pence’s progressed Venus as both experience the Neptune transits. Outside events, such as the pandemic or economic recession, may feel out of their control and impact negatively on re-election.
The Vice President has the Sun conjunct Mercury in Gemini in his birth chart. Mercury is prominent, as it’s placed Out-of-Bounds in declination and disposes all other planets but Saturn. As a conservative radio host and politician, it’s allowed him to share his message. But his progressed Sun will be about 15 Leo and progressed Mercury about 11 Leo by the 2021 inauguration. In February and March, transiting Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius will oppose his progressed Mercury, and by May, transiting Uranus will square it, creating a third T-square and suggesting significant new developments in life that may be unanticipated or contrary to his intentions.
Transiting Jupiter opposes and contraparallels Mike Pence’s progressed Sun and Uranus in February, as Jupiter parallels natal Jupiter and trines his Sun. He should be moving toward new vistas by then, and will certainly land on his feet.
We stand on firmer astrological ground with Kamala Harris, who was born in California, where birth records are available. As other astrologers have noted, Harris has quite a strong birth chart. Her Ascendant and North Node in Gemini form a grand trine with her Sun in Libra and Saturn in its ruling sign of Aquarius conjunct her Midheaven. This shows a consistent focus on career and the ability to gradually move to positions of greater authority. The pattern opens out to a rare Star of David or grand sextile, an active and dynamic pattern with nine planets and points and four oppositions involved.
Like Mike Pence, Kamala has Jupiter at 24 degrees. Transiting Jupiter through her eighth house will create a grand trine with her Venus in Virgo in September and Jupiter in Taurus in November. This shows support for her efforts and events running in her favor. Her progressed Moon, exalted in Taurus, has been activating her earth-sign planets, and will trine natal Pluto in December, oppose her Neptune in January and go on to trine natal Venus in early February. This run begins and ends with favorable influences for success while her progressed Moon also double-approaches a conjunction with progressed Jupiter.
From late October through December, the transiting Jupiter-Saturn conjunction also sextiles Harris’ progressed Venus at 26 Scorpio (close to conjoining running mate Joe Biden’s Sun).
The candidate’s progressed Sun in late Sagittarius exactly conjoins her Descendant in December, bringing her before the public as it approaches a sextile to her natal Sun over the next four years. At the same time, she’s experiencing a Nodal Return (exact in early October, see my earlier article on that here). And finally, her progressed Sun conjoins her natal South Node in January. While the South Node may not seem like a favorable conjunction to western astrologers, it could signify Harris being drawn along by karmic forces. In any event, she is at quite an important turning point in her life and career.
Transiting Saturn squares Harris’ Sun and Moon in late November. With so many oppositions in her chart and the Sun and Moon key components of her grand sextile, I believe this indicates new responsibilities. In February 2020, when Saturn first activated the opposition, she called on the Trump Administration for a plan to combat the pandemic. In August, shortly after the second exact squares, she was named the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate. These themes would be consistent with her election. Her progressed Moon also contraparallel natal Saturn in the tenth in late December is a similar influence which may include changes in residence, lifestyle and responsibilities.
All the candidates this year have natal or progressed mutable planets or points that are activated by Neptune, which may relate to prevailing confusion over the coronavirus pandemic and their various approaches to it. In Harris’ case, transiting Neptune stations in opposition to her natal Venus and progressed Mars in Virgo from October through January, bringing up issues in her natal chart. Progressed Moon opposes Neptune at the same time. These are difficult aspects to delineate, although Neptune goes on to more favorably trine her natal Neptune before election day.
Kamala Harris’ Moon progresses Out of Bounds in declination, making for significant periods of time in her life. It is now on the more fortunate upslope, but will peak in her early sixties, a time when she may attract even more attention or prominence – perhaps as the Democratic presidential candidate in 2024.
The two Vice Presidential candidates both have mixed aspects. I’m influenced by Biden and Trump’s forecasts, as well as Harris and Trump’s Nodal returns and the 2021 inauguration horoscope. What stands out in Pence and Harris’ analysis is that notable developments are promised for both, which would hold true for a change of administration. Saturn rarely surprises us. With hard aspects from Jupiter and Saturn for both candidates, the current trajectory of Trump’s team polling lower than Biden’s will probably continue, with Kamala Harris moving into a new job.
What are Joe Biden’s astrological chances of winning the November 2020 presidential election? His natal horoscope is certainly not as fortunate as President Trump’s, and the incumbent always has an edge.
Biden was born during World War II, and the era’s characteristic Saturn-Uranus conjunction straddles his Descendant as it opposes his Sun, Venus and Ascendant. The oppositions are probably responsible for the ups and downs in his life and career, but six planets in fixed signs give a consistency of purpose. Neptune in his 10th trines and sextiles the oppositions, balancing the energies and making him a career public servant. A yod with the Moon at its apex and inconjunct aspects to the Ascendant, Venus and Neptune may have also added to the elusiveness of his presidential bids in the past.
But as we near election day in late October, transiting Jupiter trines his Midheaven, while Pluto stations conjunct Jupiter near the trine, helping him promote his message. In November and December, the approaching Jupiter-Saturn conjunction sextiles his rising Sun and Venus and trines progressed Uranus and Neptune, an unusual combination. Transiting Uranus also sextiles his progressed Moon and trines progressed Mars in November. While sextiles are not the strongest aspects in the world, they facilitate things, and the great Jupiter-Saturn mutation into air signs is favorable to Biden.
Donald Trump struggles under the weight of oppositions from the momentous transits in Capricorn while his opponent profits from their aspects to both his natal and progressed charts. Jupiter and Saturn go on to square Biden’s Moon and trine his 10th house Neptune by the end of the year, suggesting both a change of residence and new career vistas. (His progressed Moon square natal Saturn, exact on January 1, has similar resonances.)
Biden’s progressed Mercury at about 25 Capricorn falls right on the progressed U.S. Moon, South Node and Pluto in Capricorn combination as well as the Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto transits in November, which appear to be keeping him in sync with important developments in the country.
Biden’s progressed Sun in Aquarius will be less than a degree from trining the U.S. Mars and a few degrees from conjoining the U.S. natal Moon (using Evangeline Adams’ Gemini rising chart), showing a closer relationship with the country. His progressed Moon and Venus in early Pisces are both drawing close to trining the U.S. natal Sun-Jupiter midpoint, which also seems a favorable connection.
The candidate’s progressed Midheaven at 9 Sagittarius falls in his first house near an opposition to his natal Saturn and U.S. natal Uranus. This could potentially signify an upset, but given the preponderance of other flowing aspects, I feel it suggests a new phase in his life, along with new responsibilities.
The U.S. progressed Venus is about a half a degree from conjoining Biden’s natal Moon in Taurus, indicating a close connection.
The powerhouse in Joe Biden’s chart is Ascendant-ruler Jupiter exalted in Cancer in his 8th house, which trines his Sun, Mercury and Venus. Not the most fortunate of placements, it has nevertheless helped him win supporters and raise campaign funds. Progressions of the heavier planets move very slowly, but in an unusual combination, Biden’s progressed retrograde Jupiter in Cancer is within two degrees of conjoining U.S. progressed Jupiter. At the same time, it trines the U.S. progressed Sun at about 15-1/2 Pisces in a double-approaching aspect (about a degree and a half from exact), and also conjoins the natal U.S. Sun (at about 4 degrees). His progressed Jupiter is also close to trining his Mercury-Mars midpoint in Scorpio, creating a grand trine with U.S. progressed Sun near his IC, a fortunate combination for considering the outcome of an election.
The Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Aquarius shows Biden in the right place at the right time, and that his momentum continues into 2021. The conjunction transits his 2nd house, and in January (inauguration month), exactly trines 7th house Uranus while sextiling his Ascendant. Jupiter also trines natal Saturn in the 7th, which should help in dealing with the public and important partners. Since Jupiter and Saturn are always close in declination when conjunct, they both also parallel Biden’s Sun and natal 1st house Venus in January, aspects often signifying notable career developments.
An unusual transit is Neptune stationing closely conjunct Biden’s fourth house cusp in November. An angular Neptune can be difficult to interpret. Certainly transiting Neptune closely squaring both Mitt Romney’s Gemini Ascendant and running mate Paul Ryan’s Sagittarius Ascendant in 2012 seemed a strong testimony that they would fail to win their bid for the presidency. Here it may suggest the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the country and a sense of “shifting sands” underfoot. As it also closely trines Biden’s natal Mercury in Scorpio (ruler of his 10th and 7th houses), it might be less onerous than otherwise. On some level, though, it also has the potential to undermine him. Perhaps the idea of people voting against Trump rather than for Biden is symbolized here.
The 23 Sagittarius solar eclipse on December 14, 2020 is strongly placed in Biden’s 1st house of identity, and squares transiting Neptune and his MC, while sextiling his progressed Ascendant in Aquarius. This spotlights his message, but there may be upcoming events that we cannot anticipate as yet.
