Tag Archives: presidential candidates

Election 2016 – Solar Arcs

Let’s look at the Solar Arc directed planets for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to see who has more powerful directions on Election Day, November 8, 2016.  (I use these simply as a kind of progression and not with midpoint pictures.)

Donald Trump’s directed MC, relating to career and status, is conjunct his 12th house, with no major aspects to planets in his birth chart.  His directed Ascendant is in his 3rd house, just past conjoining directed Mars (a high point for assertive communications).  It approaches a trine to his Mercury in the 11th, but it’s a little over a degree and a half away.

Trump’s directed Sun opposite Moon,  as well as his Nodes, straddle his Ascendant-Descendant axis.  This is strong testimony of coming before the public and gaining much attention, and is very consistent with his campaign.  Yet the South Node conjoining his 7th house cusp, which relates to the public, suggests a lack of support for a major position in the material world.Trump Solar Arcs 11-8-16

Directed Mercury from the 1st approaches a square to Uranus in his natal 10th house.  The issues of communication and career excitement are brought up.  But this aspect, too, is over a degree and a half from exact on election day.  I’m not sure whether the more radical changes in his career that are indicated by Uranus will occur from mid to late 2017 or earlier.  These are the closest aspects.

Hillary Clinton’s directions are stronger.  However we must remember that her  birth time is not certain, which makes aspects involving the Ascendant and Midheaven questionable.  (I use her 8:02 AM chart.)

Hillary’s natal Moon square Uranus directs to angular houses, making it more prominent.  Directed Uranus is less than half of a degree from conjoining her MC, and her directed Moon is in her 7th house.  This combination shows both her support from women, as well as the fact that she’s breaking new ground as the first female presidential candidate from a major party.  To my mind, this is a very important direction.Hillary Solar Arcs 11-8-16

Hillary’s directed MC falls in her 12th house, only about 7 degrees from conjoining her Ascendant.  Given the orb I use, I feel that it’s already activating her Ascendant, which is significant.  It’s also just a degree from conjoining her Venus, showing the possibility of much support from behind the scenes.  (Venus also rules her 6th house of service, her 7th of the public and partnerships and the 11th relating to the community.)

Solar Arc Neptune is nearly exactly trine her natal Saturn in the 9th, allowing her to reach a wide audience with her message.  Similarly, her directed Jupiter in her 3rd house is within a degree of trining her Neptune in the 11th house, giving her a strong resonance with the community (11th) for her ideas (the 3rd house and Jupiter).  (Directed Mercury, also in her 3rd, has passed a sextile to her natal Jupiter, but is less than a degree away, also supporting her message.)

Hillary has more close Solar Arc directions for election day than Donald.  She wins this round of astrological consideration.  So far we have Solar returns going to Clinton, the progressed Moon in declination to Trump and now Solar Arcs to Hillary.

I’ll look at secondary progressions for each candidate next.

Hillary Announces Run

Hillary Clinton announced her run for the 2016 presidential race on April 12, 2015 at around 3:02 pm*. This becomes the natal horoscope for her campaign, and we can analyze the development and possible outcome of the campaign with this chart. An event chart like this one is read like a horary.

The Ascendant is 0 Virgo – with the suggestion of it being “too soon.” Fair enough – it’s a kick-off announcement a year and a half before the election. The Ascendant rules Hillary herself – the party initiating the event. Virgo is ruled by Mercury in the 9th combust the Sun. Hillary’s ruler is elevated in the horoscope, but the Sun rules her 12th house – her liabilities. Her current message may be obscured by previous questions about her official e-mails and other voter concerns. However the campaign should be able to outpace these issues as Mercury moves away from the Sun by the end of April.

The Sun conjoins both Mercury and Uranus in Aries in the 9th house. Talk about a world-wide announcement! This one packs a punch with the Sun exalted in Aries. And the Uranus-style notice was made with e-mails, in an online video and on Twitter.

Venus in the 10th ruling the Taurus Midheaven highlights the prestige of the presidential office. Venus opposes Saturn, an indication of the challenges therein. But the Moon in Aquarius (co-ruling Hillary) will trine Venus and sextile Saturn from the cusp of the 6th house: Hillary is up for the challenge and will work hard and pursue an independent course to achieve her goals.

An astrologer would probably not have chosen the angular T-square of Venus in the 10th, Saturn in the 4th and Neptune in the 7th house. But Neptune in the 7th rules Hillary’s opponents (“open enemies” astrologically). And while they may blow smokescreens to confuse the issues, they are also not the most effective.

Saturn in the 4th is grounded, but as significator of the “end of the matter,” it may not be propitious. We must look to Hillary’s birth chart to see how the planets are influencing her personally.

The flaws in the announcement horoscope ultimately don’t matter that much. President Obama, for instance, had a void-of-course Moon for his February, 2007 election bid. The more important things to consider are the candidate’s birth chart, the astrological weather at the time of the campaign and election, and transits and progressions to the natal chart. Unfortunately we may not have a definitive birth chart for Hillary Clinton. That’s a topic for another post.

*The NewYorkTimes.com stated that Clinton’s 2-minute video announcement was released “just after 3 p.m.” on April 12, 2015. I used her campaign headquarters in Brooklyn Heights for the location.