Tag Archives: mutable signs

Kevin McCarthy’s Ouster

Speaker Kevin McCarthy is in the news with his ouster from the House on October 3, 2023 after only 9 months in office.  It reminded me of a class with Bob Zoller nearly 30 years ago.  He was stressing that nothing will manifest that’s not promised in the birth chart.  We all accept that, but he had a more deterministic view.  Certainly, I argued, sometimes things work out better than astrologers might expect.  He agreed, but went on to say that if that’s the case, the success will be either partial or short-lived. 

We often find Saturn in the 10th house in people with visible positions of authority.  But sometimes, depending on the essential dignity and aspects, they’ll face challenges or experience a loss of position for one reason or another.  Think about Herbert Hoover, who had an illustrious career but only served one term as President due to the Great Depression.  He had Saturn in Aquarius in the 10th opposite his Moon, Mars and Uranus.  Woodrow Wilson had Saturn in Cancer conjunct the MC and opposite his Sun, and had to address World War I and a severe stroke that left him disabled.  He never realized his hope for a League of Nations.

Saturn in McCarthy’s chart is different in that it’s closely square the Moon in Sagittarius conjunct the 7th house cusp.  There’s no dignity for Saturn in Pisces or the Moon in Sagittarius, and the mutable signs are not as forceful as the fixed (Hoover) or as tenacious as cardinal (Wilson).  But like the others, he is in a sense the victim of circumstances.  He’d do better if he had a solid majority to back him.  But his horoscope doesn’t suggest that.

The Moon may represent his constituents, the public, his general audience or his open enemies.  Ruled by Jupiter in Taurus in the 12th which squares his MC, his partnerships and position (since Saturn is also ruled by Jupiter) are somewhat at the mercy of others, and might be undermined by hidden enemies (the 12th) who are more determined than he is (Taurus).  And with his angular Moon so closely square Saturn, the timing has not been right.

McCarthy’s horoscope has some good aspects but no essential dignity.  So despite being a member of Congress for over 16 years, as Zoller said, his greatest success was both contentious and short-lived… so far.   I don’t think we’ve heard the last of him.

British journalist Martin Bashir, who controversially interviewed Princess Diana, has some similarities in his chart with Saturn in the 10th square his Moon, though his Saturn in Aquarius is stronger and the Moon is weaker.

I Can’t Breathe

Protesters chanting “I can’t breathe” took to the streets in New York City last night, blocking traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge, the West Side Highway and the Lincoln Tunnel. They expressed their anger after a grand jury failed to indict police officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner, who died of a chokehold on 7/14/14. The “I can’t breathe” cry for help reflects Garner’s repeated words during his fateful arrest. Why has this catch-phrase caught on in New York?

Breathing and respiration are ruled by the mutable signs, especially Gemini, ruler of the lungs, and Sagittarius, which rules exhalation. Eric Garner suffered from asthma. According to medical astrologer Diane Cramer in How to Give an Astrological Health Reading, this may relate to afflictions in Gemini, Saturn in Gemini or Sagittarius, Saturn afflicted in the 3rd house and an angular Moon. The horoscope for New York City (1/1/1898 at 12:01 AM) has these placements.

The City’s Neptune-Pluto conjunction in Gemini in the 9th house along with Saturn, Venus and Mars in Sagittarius in the 3rd house cover these mutable signs. Eric Garner was born on 9/15/70, and has the Sun, Mercury and Pluto all conjunct in Virgo along with Mars in Virgo and a probable Moon in Pisces. By quadruplicity rulership, all of the mutable signs may affect respiration. Garner’s placements also activate the City’s horoscope, creating a grand cross. His Mars in Virgo exactly squares the City’s Saturn, showing his conflict with authority. His natal Pluto also squares the City’s Venus and Mars, bringing up a conflict of wills and inappropriate force.

Why are these issues being expressed right now? Transiting Neptune in Pisces stationed exactly square the City’s Saturn in June of 2014, shortly before Eric Garner’s death. Neptune again stationed in November, when the officer who killed Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri was also released by a grand jury, sparking protests in New York and elsewhere in the country last week.

Transiting Neptune will square NYC’s Saturn throughout 2015. As Mayor DeBlasio stated, this is “not the end of the story, only the end of a chapter.” Astrologically, it seems to me that protests will continue. The Mayor and Police Commissioner Bratton have promised an internal affairs investigation into police actions surrounding the incident. And Daniel Pantaleo also faces Federal civil rights charges. Hopefully the continuing aspects from Neptune will help address “the larger issues” that President Obama sees as necessary.